The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the inadequacy of a VA examination in assessing his cervical spine disability, specifically regarding functional loss due to pain.
The deciding factor: The July 2017 VA exam did not adequately consider the Veteran’s functional loss due to pain and other symptoms.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine degenerative joint disease (DJD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20001060
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,249 · Granted: 37% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 20001060.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted initial ratings for cervical spine DJD, right and left upper extremity radiculopathy, lumbar DJD, and right lower extremity radiculopathy, but denied higher ratings for right hip limitation of flexion and extension.
- Denied
The Board denied increased disability ratings for the Veteran's right and left foot disabilities, migraine headaches, cervical spine degenerative joint disease, and posttraumatic stress disorder at any point during the appeal period.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of September 15, 2022 for the increased rating of 40 percent for low back pain and August 7, 2023 for service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for cervical spine degenerative joint disease and degenerative disc disease with spinal fusion, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor.
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