The Veteran's DDD of the cervical spine and radiculopathy of both upper extremities are granted as service-connected. The Board found that these conditions were incurred or aggravated by in-service injuries.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinions supported a finding that the current disabilities were related to the Veteran's in-service injuries.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) of the cervical spine, Radiculopathy of the right upper extremity, Radiculopathy of the left upper extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 15, 2024
- Citation
- A24075283
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,820 · Granted: 26% (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 A24075283.
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 Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for a VA examiner's opinion regarding whether his service-connected disabilities result in loss of use and if so, whether he requires aid and attendance without considering such disability/ies. The Veteran also needs to be considered for SMC R1 based on the need for regular aid and attendance.
- Granted
The Veteran's cervical spine disability and radiculopathy of both upper extremities have been granted increased ratings, with the left upper extremity receiving a higher rating due to more severe symptoms.
- Denied
The Veteran's cervical strain is currently rated at 10 percent, but the evidence does not support a higher rating.,There is no current diagnosis of radiculopathy of the left upper extremity. The Veteran's service-connected cervical strain did not result in this condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for a cervical spine disorder and radiculopathy of the right upper extremity were denied due to lack of new and material evidence.,The effective date for the grant of service connection for these conditions was not earlier than April 22, 2016.
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