The Board has granted service connection for a left shoulder disability, finding that the Veteran's current condition is at least in equipoise with his service-connected lumbar spine and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy disabilities. Service connection for a cervical spine disability was denied due to lack of credible evidence supporting the Veteran's claim that he sustained a fall resulting in a cervical spine injury during active duty.
The deciding factor: The Board found the Veteran's lay statements regarding his October 2, 2015 fall and resultant injuries were not credible based on the absence of contemporaneous medical records documenting such an injury.
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder disability, cervical spine disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 19, 2020
- Citation
- 20034667
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 20034667.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the claims of service connection for cervical spine and skin rash disabilities, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to active military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for residuals of gallbladder removal and remanded the other claims due to insufficient evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for miscarriage, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and right elbow disability due to insufficient examination opinions and incomplete service history verification.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that remand is needed for the Veteran's claims due to duty to assist errors, including clarification of periods of service and obtaining relevant records. The Veteran will be afforded new medical examinations for each claimed disability.
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