RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

PHYSICAL DISABILITY BOARD OF REVIEW 

BRANCH OF SERVICE:  NAVY 

 
NAME:  XXXXXXXXXX                                                     
CASE NUMBER:  PD1200476                                                           SEPARATION DATE:  200203022 
BOARD DATE:  20130118 
 
 
SUMMARY  OF  CASE:    Data  extracted  from  the  available  evidence  of  record  reflects  that  this 
covered  individual  (CI)  was  an  active  duty  HM2/E-5  (8404/Field  Medical  Service  Technician), 
medically separated for cervical spondylosis.  The condition began in approximately 1996 and 
was  not  a  consequence  of  trauma  or  associated  with  a  surgical  indication.    The  CI  did  not 
improve adequately with treatment to meet the physical requirements of his rating or satisfy 
physical fitness standards.  He was placed on light duty and referred for a Medical Evaluation 
Board (MEB).  The MEB forwarded cervical spondylosis and neck pain to the Physical Evaluation 
Board  (PEB)  as  medically  unacceptable  IAW  SECNAVINST  1850.4E.    No  other  conditions 
appeared on the MEB’s submission.  The PEB adjudicated the cervical spondylosis condition as 
unfitting,  rated  10%  with  application  of  the  Veterans  Affairs  Schedule  for  Rating  Disabilities 
(VASRD).    Neck  pain  was  included  as  a  related  Category  II  diagnosis;  and  major  depressive 
disorder was adjudicated as Category III:  conditions that are not separately unfitting and do 
not contribute to the unfitting condition.  The CI made no appeals, and was medically separated 
with a 10% disability rating. 
 
 
CI CONTENTION:  The CI elaborated no specific contention in his application.   
 
 
SCOPE OF REVIEW:  The Board wishes to clarify that the scope of its review as defined in DoDI 
6040.44, Enclosure 3, paragraph 5.e. (2) is limited to those conditions which were determined 
by the PEB to be specifically unfitting for continued military service; or, when requested by the 
CI, those condition(s) “identified but not determined to be unfitting by the PEB.”  The ratings 
for  unfitting  conditions  will  be  reviewed  in  all  cases.    Any  conditions  or  contention  not 
requested in this application, or otherwise outside the Board’s defined scope of review, remain 
eligible for future consideration by the Board for Correction of Naval Records. 
 
 
RATING COMPARISON:   
 

Service IPEB – Dated 20020220 
Condition 
Code 
Cervical Spondylosis 
5299-5295 
Neck Pain 
Cat II 
Major Depressive Disorder 
Cat III 
↓No Additional MEB/PEB Entries↓ 
Combined:  10% 

Rating 
10% 

VA (~18 Mos. Pre-Separation) – All Effective Date 20020323 
Condition 
Cervical DDD and Spondylosis, C5-6 
No VA Entry 
Not Service-Connected x 1 
Combined:  10% 

Rating 
10% 

Code 
5293 

Exam 
20001006 

20001006 

 
 
ANALYSIS SUMMARY:  The Board wishes to clarify that it is subject to the same laws for service 
disability entitlements as those under which the Disability Evaluation System (DES) operates.  
While  the  DES  considers  all  of  the  member's  medical  conditions,  compensation  can  only  be 
offered for those medical conditions that cut short a member’s career, and then only to the 
degree  of  severity  present  at  the  time  of  final  disposition.    However  the  Department  of 
Veterans Affairs (DVA), operating under a different set of laws (Title 38, United States Code), is 
empowered to compensate service-connected conditions and to periodically re-evaluate said 

its  recommendations;  and,  DoDI  6040.44  defines  a  12-month 

conditions  for  the  purpose  of  adjusting  the  Veteran’s  disability  rating  should  the  degree  of 
impairment vary over time.  The Board utilizes DVA evidence proximal to separation in arriving 
at 
interval  for  special 
consideration to post-separation evidence.  The Board’s authority as defined in DoDI 6044.40, 
however, resides in evaluating the fairness of DES fitness determinations and rating decisions 
for disability at the time of separation.  Post-separation evidence therefore is probative only to 
the  extent  that  it  reasonably  reflects  the  disability  and  fitness  implications  at  the  time  of 
separation. 
 
Cervical  Spondylosis  Condition.    The  2002  VASRD  coding  and  rating  standards  for  the  spine, 
which were in effect at the time of permanent separation, were changed to the current §4.71a 
rating  standards  on  26  September  2003,  following  the  CI’s  permanent  disability  disposition.  
The older ratings were based on a judgment as to whether the disability was mild, moderate or 
severe.  The current standards are grounded in range-of-motion (ROM) measurements.  IAW 
DoDI 6040.44, this Board must consider the appropriate rating for the CI’s back  condition at 
separation  based  on  the  VASRD  standards  in  effect  at  the  time  of  separation.    The  VA 
Compensation  and  Pension  (C&P)  examination  18  months  prior  to  separation  reported 
tenderness but no muscle spasm.  The neck flexed “easily to bring the chin to the sternum” 
(normal is 45 degrees by current standards).  Extension was 30 degrees (45 degrees normal by 
current standards), lateral bending 45 degrees bilaterally (45 degrees normal) and rotation 60 
degrees  without  pain  (80  degrees  normal).    A  primary  care  assessment  10  months  prior  to 
separation noted tenderness and limited cervical spine ROM in all directions due to pain.  The 
MEB narrative summary (NARSUM) examiner (9 months prior to separation), reported that the 
CI had daily neck pain that could awaken him from sleep, and occasionally radiated to the right 
arm.  Physical examination revealed the neck to be supple with painful flexion and extension.  
Testing  for  nerve  root  pain  was  negative.    Neurologic  findings  in  the  upper  and  lower 
extremities  were  normal.    Radiographic  evaluation  revealed  an  osteophyte  at  C5-6  without 
neuroforaminal impingement.  Multi-level retrolisthesis (backward slippage of a vertebral body) 
on  extension  of  the  neck  was  also  present.    An  orthopedic  examiner  5  months  prior  to 
separation noted decreased ROM in all directions, although measurements were not specified.  
An outpatient evaluation for an acute febrile respiratory illness 4 months prior to separation 
noted “full ROM” of the neck with painful motion. 
 
The  Board  must  correlate  the  above  clinical  data  with  the  2001  rating  schedule  which,  for 
convenience, is excerpted below: 

 

                       5290 Spine, limitation of motion of, cervical: 
                                     Severe ........................................................................................ 30 

Moderate ................................................................................... 20 
Slight .......................................................................................... 10 

                       5293 Intervertebral disc syndrome: 

              Pronounced; with persistent symptoms compatible with  

sciatic neuropathy with characteristic pain and demonstrable  

                            muscle spasm, absent ankle jerk, or other neurological  

                                    findings appropriate to site of diseased disc, little 
                                    intermittent relief ……………………………........................................ 60 
                            Severe; recurring attacks, with intermittent relief ………………….40 

Moderate; recurring attacks ...................... ............................... 20 
Mild ............................................................................................ 10 
Postoperative, cured .................................................................... 0 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 

 

5295 Lumbosacral strain: 

  

 

 

Severe; with listing of whole spine to opposite side, positive 
Goldthwaite's sign, marked limitation of forward bending in 
standing position, loss of lateral motion with osteo-arthritic 

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changes, or narrowing or irregularity of joint space, or some 
of the above with abnormal mobility on forced motion ………….. 40 
With muscle spasm on extreme forward bending,  
loss of lateral spine  motion, unilateral, in standing' position ….. 20    
With characteristic pain on motion …………………………….....…….…. 10 
With slight subjective symptoms only ……………………...….……...……. 0  

 
The unfitting cervical spine condition was designated as existing prior to service by the PEB, but 
no  deduction  was  applied.    The  PEB  assigned  a  10%  rating  under  an  analogous  5295  code 
(lumbosacral strain).  The VA initially assigned a 10% rating for a period of military service that 
ended  1  November  2000,  and  again  following  a  second  separation  from  service  ending  on 
22 March  2002.    The  VA’s  rating  increase  to  20%  in  2004  was  based  on  a  later  C&P  exam 
performed on 2 July 2004.  Since that exam falls well outside the 12-month window specified in 
DoDI 6040.44 regarding VA evaluations for Board consideration, it was not considered.  Board 
members agreed that a 10% rating was easily justified by the evidence at hand, but debated if a 
higher  rating  was  warranted  under  the  5290  code.    Although  there  was  documentation  of 
reduced  ROM  prior  to  separation,  there  was  also  an  evaluation  proximal  to  separation  that 
noted ROM to be full.  Members agreed that the 5293 coding criteria did not provide an avenue 
to a higher rating, and that there was likewise no evidence to support a higher rating using the 
PEB’s  approach under  an  analogous  5295  code.    The  PEB  properly  subsumed  neck  pain  as  a 
related condition.  After due deliberation, considering all of the evidence and mindful of VASRD 
§4.3 (Resolution of reasonable doubt), the Board concluded that there was insufficient cause to 
recommend a change in the PEB adjudication for the cervical spondylosis condition. 
 
 
BOARD FINDINGS:  IAW DoDI 6040.44, provisions of DoD or Military Department regulations or 
guidelines relied upon by the PEB will not be considered by the Board to the extent they were 
inconsistent  with  the  VASRD  in  effect  at  the  time  of  the  adjudication.    The  Board  did  not 
surmise  from  the  record  or  PEB  ruling  in  this  case  that  any  prerogatives  outside  the  VASRD 
were exercised.  In the matter of the cervical spondylosis condition and IAW VASRD §4.71a, the 
Board  unanimously  recommends  no  change  in  the  PEB  adjudication.    There  were  no  other 
conditions within the Board’s scope of review for consideration.   
 
 
RECOMMENDATION:  The Board, therefore, recommends that there be no recharacterization of 
the CI’s disability and separation determination, as follows:   
 

           XXXXXXXXXXXXXX 
           President 
           Physical Disability Board of Review 

   3                                                           PD1200476 
 

VASRD CODE  RATING 
5299-5295 
COMBINED 

10% 
10% 

UNFITTING CONDITION 
Cervical Spondylosis 

 
 
The following documentary evidence was considered: 
 
Exhibit A.  DD Form 294, dated 20120531, w/atchs 
Exhibit B.  Service Treatment Record 
Exhibit C.  Department of Veterans’ Affairs Treatment Record 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

MEMORANDUM FOR DIRECTOR, SECRETARY OF THE NAVY COUNCIL 

                                  OF REVIEW BOARDS  
 

Subj:  PHYSICAL DISABILITY BOARD OF REVIEW (PDBR) RECOMMENDATIONS 

Ref:   (a) DoDI 6040.44 

             (b) CORB ltr dtd 31 Jan 13 
 

      In accordance with reference (a), I have reviewed the cases forwarded by reference (b), and, for 
the reasons provided in their forwarding memorandum, approve the recommendations of the PDBR 
that the following individual’s records not be corrected to reflect a change in either characterization 
of separation or in the disability rating previously assigned by the Department of the Navy’s 
Physical Evaluation Board: 
 
-    former USMC 
 
                  -    former USMC 
-    former USMC 
 
-    former USN  
 
-    former USN  
-    former USN  
-    former USN   

 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

     

 

 
      
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 

  XXXXXXXXXXXXX 
  Assistant General Counsel 
     (Manpower & Reserve Affairs) 

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