The Board has determined that the remand of both cervical spine arthritis and left arm radiculopathy secondary to cervical spine arthritis is necessary due to insufficient exposure information provided by VA examiners.
The deciding factor: VA examiners did not consider the Veteran's frequent exposure to near-freezing water, sometimes for extended periods, as a basis for his claim of entitlement to service connection for cervical spine arthritis.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine arthritis, left arm radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 23, 2019
- Citation
- 19195906
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,170 · Granted: 38% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19195906.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a neck/cervical spine disability, finding that his current condition is at least as likely as not related to active duty service.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of left arm radiculopathy and therefore, service connection for this condition is denied.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings and service connection have been dismissed as the Veteran requested to withdraw all of his appeals prior to a decision being made.
- Granted
The Veteran's cervical spine arthritis and bilateral hearing loss are granted. A rating of 40 percent or higher for lumbar contusion with myositis and lumbar spondylosis, TDIU on April 30, 2014, SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s) on April 30, 2014, and ratings in excess of 10 percent for radiculopathy are granted. The appeal is remanded for further rating determinations.
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