The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a lumbar spine disability and increased ratings for his cervical spine disability and left upper extremity radiculopathy. The Board found that there was no evidence of a direct link between the Veteran’s current disabilities and his military service, or secondary to his service-connected cervical spine disability.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided by VA examiners were against the claim, stating that the Veteran's lumbar spine disability is not related to his in-service injury or service-connected cervical spine disability. The examiner also opined that overcompensation for neck pain did not cause or aggravate the lumbar spine disability.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disability, cervical spine disability, left upper extremity radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- March 9, 2021
- Citation
- 21013314
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 21013314.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the claims of service connection for cervical spine and skin rash disabilities, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to active military service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for miscarriage, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and right elbow disability due to insufficient examination opinions and incomplete service history verification.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee disability, right knee disability, lumbar spine disability, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as these issues have been addressed in a separate docket.
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