Wrist & hand decisions — 2024

The Board has decided to remand the case due to a lack of proper duty-to-assist actions and an internal inconsistency in the VA examination report. The Veteran's left wrist disability claim is being returned for further development, including obtaining additional VA treatment records and scheduling a new VA examination.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have rendered him in need of regular aid and attendance, which is granted.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further review of her service connection claim and the reduction in disability rating for lumbosacral strain.

The Board has found new and relevant evidence for the claims of service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome of the right hand, left hand, and right knee osteoarthritis. The case is being remanded to allow the AOJ to adjudicate these claims in light of the additional evidence.

The Board has remanded the claims of entitlement to increased evaluations for left and right wrist fractures due to inadequate examination findings, including missing information about flare-ups.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of broken right wrist, finding that there is no evidence to support a link between his current condition and his military service.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for headaches, bilateral wrist nerve condition, bilateral hearing loss, neck condition, back condition, right shoulder clavicle disability, and left elbow condition have all been denied. The Board found no current disabilities of the claimed conditions.,There is insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between any current disabilities and military service.

Service connection for OSA is granted, while service connection for right hand and left hand carpal tunnel syndrome, as well as lower and upper extremity peripheral neuropathy are denied.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not render him so helpless as to need regular aid and attendance for the period of time on appeal.

The Veteran's psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis are remanded for further development, including obtaining medical nexus opinions regarding the relationship to service and toxic exposure.

The Veteran's TDIU claim was granted with an effective date of March 1, 2017. The Board found that the evidence did not show a worsening in his service-connected disabilities during the one-year look-back period and thus could not establish entitlement to an earlier effective date.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to a lack of an etiology opinion in some cases, and the failure to obtain such opinions constitutes a predecisional duty to assist error.

The Veteran's OSA is granted as service-connected. The reduction in the rating for his right wrist disorder from 30 percent to 10 percent effective March 1, 2019 was denied.

The appellant withdrew his appeals for left foot metatarsalgia with gout, right wrist strain with gout, and an earlier effective date for obstructive sleep apnea.

The Veteran's bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome is granted as service connected due to a continuity of symptoms since service.

The Board has granted service connection for cervical strain with degenerative arthritis, lumbosacral strain, right hip strain, left hip strain, right knee strain, and left wrist sprain. The claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is remanded due to a lack of an opinion on whether OSA is aggravated by tinnitus.

The Veteran's left wrist ganglion cyst was incurred in service and the Board has granted service connection for this condition.

The Board has granted service connection for right wrist strain, finding that the Veteran's current condition is related to his active service. The other conditions (right ankle and shoulder) were not found to be causally or etiologically related to service.

The Veteran's claim for TDIU was denied, and the Board has decided to remand it due to a duty to assist error regarding Social Security records.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus and has remanded the claims of lower back condition, left wrist condition, and mental health condition (post-traumatic stress disorder).