The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims of service connection for cervical spine arthritis and left shoulder arthritis due to new evidence provided in February 2018. However, the claims remain denied as there is no credible evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
The deciding factor: The February 2018 statement from the Veteran changed the timeline of events, suggesting he did not have a work-related injury that required medical treatment in January 1997, which was used by the previous VA examiner as part of their conclusion regarding the etiology of his current disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical spine arthritis, Left shoulder arthritis
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2023
- Citation
- 23001520
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,810 · Granted: 23% (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 23001520.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for cervical spine arthritis, bilateral knee degenerative arthritis, and lumbar degenerative disc disease. The Veteran's conditions are deemed to have been incurred during his active military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered her unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation from February 24, 2012, to September 26, 2012.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for cervical spine, right and left upper extremity radiculopathy, left shoulder arthritis, left and right shoulder instability, and a right shoulder scar disabilities but granted restoration of the 20 percent rating for right shoulder instability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, right and left lower extremity radiculopathy, but denied service connection for right knee arthritis, left knee arthritis, a right shoulder contusion, left shoulder arthritis, cervical spine arthritis, right upper extremity tremors, and left upper extremity tremors.
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