The Veteran's claim for service connection has been reopened and is being remanded for further development, including VA examinations to determine the nature and etiology of his claimed neck and back disorders as well as his acquired psychiatric disorder.
The deciding factor: New evidence received since the final November 2009 rating decision raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including his reported in-service events that he believes led to his current symptoms.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder (depression), Degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, Arthritis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 19, 2020
- Citation
- 20034917
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 20034917.
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 service connection for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, finding that there is no nexus between the current disability and active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding whether the Veteran's current conditions are aggravated by his service-connected DDD of the lumbosacral spine. The AOJ is required to obtain new medical opinions addressing this issue.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for cervical and lumbar spine disabilities prior to October 22, 2008 are being remanded due to the need for additional retrospective medical opinions.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, finding that the evidence did not support a link between the condition and service.
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