The Veteran's service connection claim for degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine with a compression fracture and disc degeneration at C5/C6 is granted.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that the Veteran’s neck pain is more likely than not due to his years of training and work as a U.S. Marine, supported by other clear rationale based on the progression of the Veteran's cervical spine symptoms after approximately 30 years of active and inactive duty.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine, compression fracture and disc degeneration at C5/C6
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 1, 2020
- Citation
- 20063936
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,432 · Granted: 29% (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 20063936.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine and radiculopathy affecting both upper and lower extremities, while dismissing the claim for cervicogenic headaches.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine, right upper extremity radiculopathy, degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine, and right lower extremity radiculopathy, have resulted in a combined rating of 60 percent as of March 15, 2019. The Board has granted an earlier effective date for TDIU to this point.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have prevented him from securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment, leading to a TDIU grant.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded the claims for readjudication and further development, as new and relevant evidence had been submitted since the prior denials.
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