The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for cervical spine radiculopathy, finding that there is no evidence of a current disability related to an in-service injury and that any current condition is more likely due to a workplace incident in 2003.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the Veteran’s current cervical disc disease with associated radiculopathy was less likely than not related to his service, including the September 1990 strain. The examiner noted conflicting evidence and the lack of complaints or diagnoses prior to a workplace injury in 2003.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical spine radiculopathy, Cervical disc disease with radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20080880
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,421 · Granted: 31% (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 20080880.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders are caused and aggravated by his service-connected disabilities. The Board has granted the claim for service connection, but the effective date of the TDIU is remanded due to insufficient clinical evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's cervical spine disability, including cervical disc disease with radiculopathy, is related to his in-service injury. However, the VA examiner did not provide an adequate rationale for linking the current cervical disc disease to the in-service cervical strain. Therefore, a new examination is needed.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's PTSD is granted a 100% rating, and the claims for lumbar spine radiculopathy and cervical spine radiculopathy are remanded.
- Denied
The Board found that the reduction of a 40 percent rating for cervical disc disease with radiculopathy to 20 percent was not warranted, as there was no evidence showing improvement in symptoms.
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