The Board has granted service connection for cervical spine degenerative disc disease, status post fusion and bilateral upper extremity radiculopathy (claimed as bilateral hand numbness) as secondary to service-connected cervical degenerative disc disease.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's current diagnoses are supported by medical opinions linking his symptoms to in-service activities. The Board found the most recent private opinion sufficient to grant the claims, with the VA examination providing no weight due to inadequate reasoning and failure to address positive evidence of record.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine degenerative disc disease, status post fusion, bilateral upper extremity radiculopathy (claimed as bilateral hand numbness)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 14, 2021
- Citation
- 21063521
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 21063521.
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
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