The Board has granted service connection for cervical spine degenerative joint disease. The issues of entitlement to service connection for a right shoulder disability, skin condition (rosacea), autoimmune hepatitis, hepatic steatosis, residuals of liver transplant, and hepatic encephalitis are remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's current cervical spine degenerative joint disease is at least in equipoise with the evidence supporting its etiology to his active service. The Board affords greater probative weight to the October 2016 private opinion stating that the Veteran’s current neck disability is related to his active service.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical spine degenerative joint disease, Right shoulder disability, Skin condition (rosacea), Autoimmune hepatitis, Hepatic steatosis, Residuals of liver transplant, Hepatic encephalitis, Surgical scar, Diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 2, 2020
- Citation
- 20057995
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 20057995.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of ambulance travel expenses incurred on June 17, 2025 due to an emergency heart attack. The ambulance service was provided by a volunteer organization and later intercepted by a higher-tier EMT company.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for a right shoulder disability and remanded the case for further action on heart disability. The decision regarding right shoulder disability is that it was not incurred in or aggravated by service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection were denied as the increase in severity of his conditions was not factually ascertainable within one year prior to March 30, 2023.,The effective dates for the grants of service connection for left knee instability and right knee instability are also denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that there were duty to assist errors and remanded the case for further development, including a new examination of the Veteran's cervical spine disability.
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