The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for his service-connected cervical spine disability was denied as the evidence did not show a factually ascertainable increase in severity of the disability within one year prior to the receipt of his August 20, 2013, claim.
The deciding factor: The effective date cannot be earlier than the date of receipt of the claim due to lack of factual ascertainability of an increase in severity within a year prior to the claim.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) of the cervical spine, status-post C-6 corpectomy with C5-7 fusion
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- January 12, 2021
- Citation
- 21002106
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 21002106.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
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- Granted
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