Wrist & hand decisions — 2025

The Board remands all service connection claims for further development, specifically to provide the veteran with adequate VA examinations.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disorders, including a respiratory disorder, headache disorder, loss of balance/dizziness disorder, vision impairment, neck disorder, shoulder and arm disorders, wrist disorders, hand disorders, feet and toes disorder, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete evidentiary record.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for pseudofolliculitis barbae, right hand and wrist scars, and right wrist fracture residuals with tendinitis. The claims for a compensable rating for right small finger fracture residuals and higher than 10 percent rating for right wrist fracture residuals were remanded.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for an elbow disability and a right wrist disability to obtain additional medical evidence, specifically addressing whether these disabilities are secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right shoulder disability.

The Board granted a 10 percent rating for the right wrist scar and denied an increased rating for right wrist median neuritis, service connection for PTSD, and service connection for a bilateral foot disorder.

The Board granted service connection for left wrist strain, right wrist strain, left ankle condition, right ankle condition, left knee condition, right knee condition, right shoulder condition, and left shoulder condition as secondary to service-connected lupus. Service connection was also granted for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis as secondary to psoriasis.

The Board granted service connection for chronic right wrist sprain and bilateral hearing loss, but denied an initial compensable disability rating for the right lower abdomen scar.

The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's right and left wrist disabilities, finding that at no point during or proximate to the increased rating period on appeal did his wrist disabilities result in ankylosis, loss of use of hand, or functional equivalents thereof.

The Board granted service connection for a right shoulder disability and remanded the claims for bilateral ankle arthritis, sleep apnea, bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, erectile dysfunction, degenerative disc disease, cervical, bilateral plantar fasciitis with arthritis and heel spurs, and gastroesophageal reflux disease.

The Board denied increased ratings for right hand carpal tunnel syndrome, left hand carpal tunnel syndrome, and left leg sciatic nerve radiculopathy as the evidence did not support a higher level of disability.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss due to a lack of evidence showing a current disability under VA standards. The left wrist disability was remanded for further development.

The Board granted service connection for erectile dysfunction, IBS, a left hip disorder, a left shin splint disorder, a left wrist disorder, and sleep apnea. The claims for service connection for a low back disorder, TBI, left hamstring disorder, migraine headache disorder, right hamstring disorder, right hip disorder, right shin splint disorder, and right wrist disorder were denied.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and an earlier effective date, as the maximum schedular rating of 100 percent for PTSD with persistent depressive disorder and traumatic brain injury has been in effect since April 19, 2019.

The Board granted service connection for multiple degenerative joint diseases of the right and left wrist, knee, shoulder, elbow, and hip, including as secondary to a lumbar spine disability.

The Board granted service connection for lumbosacral strain and allergic rhinitis, assigned a 10 percent rating for allergic rhinitis, and denied service connection for the other conditions.

The Board granted service connection for headaches and denied increased ratings for left and right wrist carpal tunnel syndrome as well as a compensable rating for a right wrist scar from CTS surgery.

The Veteran's PTSD has been rated at 50 percent, but no higher, on and after November 19, 2023.

The veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection and other related claims, resulting in their dismissal.

The Board granted an effective date of March 24, 2022, for the grant of service connection for various conditions.

The Board denied service connection for soft tissue sarcoma of the right wrist, to include as due to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, and an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for bilateral hearing loss. The claims for service connection for prostate cancer and sleep apnea were remanded.