The Board has granted service connection for neck and left knee disabilities. The remaining issues of secondary service connection for right shoulder, left shoulder, right-hand, and left-hand conditions are remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: Secondary service connection requires a finding that the current disability is at least as likely as not caused or aggravated by a service-connected condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Arthritis of the Cervical Spine, Degenerative Arthritis of the Left Knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 9, 2024
- Citation
- 24001412
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,874 · Granted: 33% (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 24001412.
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 service-connected degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, lumbar disc disease, bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, bilateral knee strains, residuals of a left ankle concussion, and bilateral pes cavus are found to be related to his obstructive sleep apnea. His claim for restoration of a 30 percent evaluation for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine is granted.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims for increased disability ratings have been dismissed as the appeals were not properly initiated.,Claims related to service connection and effective dates have also been dismissed.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for sleep apnea as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected unspecified anxiety disorder, degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, and cervical radiculopathy. The decision is based on evidence showing that obesity, a result of immobility due to service-connected disabilities, exacerbated the Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted a TDIU and SMC for statutory housebound due to service-connected disabilities, including anxiety disorder, degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, right upper extremity radiculopathy, and left upper extremity radiculopathy. The combined rating is at least 100 percent.
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