Wrist & hand decisions — 2024

The Board has granted service connection for left wrist condition and temporomandibular joint disorder (bruxism) and awarded a 10 percent rating for right wrist pain, status post ganglion cyst removal.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for left and right wrist conditions, as well as left and right elbow conditions, are being remanded due to a failure to reschedule VA examinations.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for right and left Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) due to inadequate medical opinions and need for a new VA examination.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for right ankle and left wrist disabilities due to incomplete records and the need for a medical opinion on aggravation.

The Board has remanded the case due to unclear nature and dates of military service, inadequate VA examination opinions, and other procedural errors.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for various musculoskeletal conditions, including bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus. The issues are related to whether these conditions are related to her active duty training (ACDUTRA).

The Board has decided to remand all of the Veteran's claims due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The AOJ must obtain her complete service personnel records, including those related to her Pennsylvania National Guard service and verify all active duty for training (ACDUTRA) or inactive duty of training (INACDUTRA) dates.

The Veteran's claims for service connection have been granted, with the exception of PTSD, anxiety, depression, a disability manifested by chronic sleep impairment, and TDIU. The hearing loss claim is denied as it does not warrant a rating in excess of 30 percent.

The Board has dismissed the appeals for increased ratings and restoration of a rating for various conditions as the Veteran withdrew his appeal.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric condition, including anxiety and depression, is related to his duties in the Airborne infantry during service.,The Veteran's left wrist sprain is proximately due to his service-connected right and left knee conditions. The VA examiner opined that it was more likely than not that his service-connected knee conditions have worsened his acquired psychiatric condition.

The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for bilateral wrist CTS and a back condition due to duty-to-assist errors. The Veteran's claim for bilateral wrist CTS will be remanded to obtain a new VA opinion regarding whether her bilateral wrist CTS had its onset in service or is otherwise related to service, specifically addressing her in-service MOS involving typing. The Veteran's claim for a back condition will be remanded to obtain a new VA examination and opinion to determine the nature of her current back disability and whether it is due to her service.

The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings were denied. The Board found no current hearing disability for VA purposes, thus denying the claim for bilateral hearing loss. For knee conditions, the Veteran did not meet the criteria for a higher rating based on limitation of motion or other factors.

The Board has remanded the claims for left knee disability, right knee disability, congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy, urinary condition, and bilateral hearing loss. The appeals of the compensable rating for left knee scar and service connection for urinary condition have been dismissed.

The Veteran's TDIU is denied as the earliest effective date allowable for the grant of a TDIU is January 28, 2021 due to service connection for PTSD.

The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the 20% rating for painful scars, residuals of dog bites (bilateral wrists and right thumb), was denied.,The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the separate evaluations of his right upper extremity deep nonlinear scars, residual of dog bite, and left upper extremity deep nonlinear scars, dog bite residuals, were also denied.

The Board dismissed all the issues of entitlement to service connection for various conditions as the Veteran withdrew his appeal.

The Board has denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, but has remanded the claims of left and right carpal tunnel syndrome.

The Veteran's OSA and right wrist tendinitis with carpal tunnel syndrome have been granted service connection, and the right wrist condition has also received a higher rating.

The Veteran's service connection claims for degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine, cervical spine, left wrist, and right wrist have been granted. The Veteran's knee conditions are rated as 10 percent disabling.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a right wrist disability, diagnosed as bilateral wrist tendonitis and De Quervain's syndrome, based on an in-service injury during active duty.