The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for cervical spine disability and left upper extremity radiculopathy due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology. The VA is required to obtain new medical opinions addressing whether these disabilities are related to service.
The deciding factor: The VA needs to provide a clear rationale for its opinion on the etiology of the Veteran's cervical spine disability and left upper extremity radiculopathy, including consideration of his lay statements about symptoms and their onset.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical spine disability, Left upper extremity radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- October 25, 2024
- Citation
- 24032245
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,455 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 24032245.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected cervical spine disability is rated at 20 percent, the maximum rating available under the General Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine. The evidence does not support a higher rating as his range of motion did not meet the criteria for an increased rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for brain cancer, low back disability, and cervical spine disability due to a pre-decisional error in failing to obtain a radiation dose estimate from the Under Secretary for Health. The Veteran's military service aboard USS ENTERPRISE is considered relevant to his exposure to ionizing radiation.
- Granted
The Veteran's cervical spine condition had its onset in service and has continued since then, meeting the criteria for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection and increased rating of his cervical spine, thoracolumbar spine, left shoulder, right shoulder, upper extremity neurological, and lower extremity neurological disabilities due to inadequate VA medical examinations in March 2019 and January-May 2016. The new examinations must consider the Veteran's reported onset dates for his symptoms.
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