Wrist & hand decisions — 2020

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for various hand, wrist, hip, and sleep apnea disorders due to inadequate medical opinions regarding the etiology of these conditions.

The reduction in rating from 30% to 0% for IBS was restored.,Evidence did not meet the criteria to reopen a claim of service connection for a right wrist disability.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional medical opinions regarding her right shoulder, wrist, hip, and knee disabilities. The issues include seeking increased evaluations for these conditions.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for right and left shoulder disabilities, cervical spine disability, and left wrist carpal tunnel syndrome have been reopened. The Board finds new and material evidence has been received to reopen these claims.,Additional development is needed as the December 2006 VA examination assessing bilateral shoulder strain is inadequate for decision making purposes.

The claims of entitlement to service connection for right ankle arthritis, left ankle arthritis, right elbow disorder, left elbow disorder, right wrist disorder, and left wrist disorder have been reopened.,The claim of entitlement to service connection for cervical spine disability has been reopened.,The claim of entitlement to service connection for lumbar spine disability has been reopened.,The claim of entitlement to service connection for left rib disability has been reopened.

The Board has granted service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome of the right and left upper extremities, a neurological disability of the right elbow (right cubital tunnel syndrome), and a cervical spine disorder with radiculopathy. The Board denied service connection for a right shoulder disorder and a left shoulder disorder.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for sleep apnea, low back condition, cervical spine condition, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, right wrist condition, left wrist condition, right knee condition, and left knee condition due to additional development of evidence.

The Veteran's additional bilateral wrist and right knee disabilities are considered to be at least as likely as not caused by negligence or other deviation from the standard of care during VA treatment in January 1993, specifically due to a failure to diagnose and treat an underlying infection.

The Veteran's disability evaluations for lumbar spine disorder, cervical spine disorder, left-shoulder disorder, right-wrist disorder, left-ankle disorder, and right-ankle disorder have been restored to their previous levels. No increased ratings are granted.

The Veteran's service connection claims for left and right thumb arthritis, as well as bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, have been denied. The Board found no credible evidence of a clinical onset or in-service incurrence of these conditions.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, lumbar strain (claimed as low back disability), left wrist ganglion cyst, heat stroke residuals, neck disability, and head injury residuals to include headaches.,Service connection was not granted for any of these conditions due to a lack of evidence linking them to service.

The Board has remanded the case for further development due to inadequate examination findings regarding the Veteran's neck disability and left wrist carpal tunnel syndrome.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for various conditions, including an acquired psychiatric disorder and orthostatic hypotension, was denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a finding of service connection due to lack of credible supporting evidence for the claimed in-service stressors.

The Board has granted service connection for left hand carpal tunnel syndrome and remanded the issue of an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for right hand carpal tunnel syndrome.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not render him unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful employment, as his combined disability rating is at least 70 percent but he failed to provide the necessary information for a TDIU claim.

The Veteran's sleep apnea is granted as secondary to his service-connected PTSD. Service connection for post-traumatic arthritis is denied, and the right wrist ganglion cyst and status-post tibial stress fractures are granted with increased ratings.

The Veteran's musculoskeletal disabilities of the right leg and arm are being remanded for further examination to determine if they are related to service.

The Board has remanded several issues related to the Veteran's claims for service connection, including cervical spine disability, right and left hip disabilities, left wrist and elbow disabilities, psychiatric disability, sleep disability, and gastrointestinal disability. The effective dates for service connection are also being remanded.

The Veteran's request for a rating in excess of 10 percent for right wrist disability and a separate disability rating for bowel incontinence associated with her service-connected back disability are both denied.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for bilateral hearing loss, degenerative changes of the right hand and wrist, and scars of the right hand due to the need for updated VA examinations.