The Board has granted service connection for a cervical disability as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected Polymyalgia rheumatica, finding that the Veteran's auto-immune disease caused or aggravated his current neck condition.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that the Veteran's cervical spine disability was caused by his underlying non-service connected autoimmune disease (Polymyalgia rheumatica), which is known to cause neck pain and alter normal biomechanics of the cervical spine function.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical disability, Polymyalgia rheumatica
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- November 22, 2024
- Citation
- 24033361
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,035 · Granted: 30% (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 24033361.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a failure to obtain a medical opinion regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's cervical disability. The claim will be reconsidered with this information.
- Denied
The Board denied the Appellant's request for attorney fees based on past-due benefits awarded in July 2024, as the May 2024 VA Form 21-526EZ submitted by the Appellant constituted an initial claim and not a supplemental one. The July 2024 Rating Decision was the initial decision on these issues.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeals for an earlier effective date and a higher rating for his psychiatric and cervical disabilities, as the evidence did not support an earlier effective date or a higher disability rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the Veteran's cervical disability is not service-connected, and has remanded the psychiatric disability claim for further development.
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