The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and cervical radiculopathy due to a lack of adequate medical opinions regarding whether these conditions were aggravated by her military service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the existing medical opinions were inadequate and required new VA examinations to determine if any current cervical spine conditions, including degenerative arthritis and radiculopathy, had their onset during or were aggravated by periods of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) or inactive duty for training (INACDUTRA).
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, Cervical radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 2, 2022
- Citation
- 22012086
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 22012086.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine was granted with effective dates of May 13, 2019.
- Granted
The Board has granted separate ratings of 30 percent for left upper extremity cervical radiculopathy and 40 percent for right upper extremity cervical radiculopathy, effective March 16, 2017.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar and cervical spine are being remanded due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The AOJ is directed to obtain an addendum medical opinion that addresses the extent of flareups experienced by the Veteran.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to her service-connected disabilities, finding that she was not unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation consistent with her education and work history.
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