The Board granted service connection for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and thoracolumbar spine, resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
The deciding factor: The August 20, 2025 VA medical opinions found that the Veteran's neck and back disabilities were at least as likely as not related to his service due to the correlation between military service and such disabilities supported by the Veteran's lay report of an in-service onset.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, Degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 31, 2025
- Citation
- 25013568
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,549 · Granted: 29% (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 25013568.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine was granted with effective dates of May 13, 2019.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine was dismissed as a matter of law due to a full grant of benefits. The appeals for left knee and left ankle disabilities are remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar and cervical spine are being remanded due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The AOJ is directed to obtain an addendum medical opinion that addresses the extent of flareups experienced by the Veteran.
- Granted
The Veteran's lumbar disability and associated radiculopathy of the sciatic and femoral nerves are granted with effective dates from June 30, 2010. A 40% rating is assigned for the lumbar disability.
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