Wrist & hand decisions — 2025

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and remanded the claims for service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, left ribcage scar, and left wrist scar as there was no evidence of a current disability.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) to obtain additional medical opinions regarding their relationship to toxic exposure during military service.

The Board granted a 20 percent disability rating for the back disability prior to April 13, 2017, and a 40 percent rating from August 2, 2019, to December 30, 2019, but denied higher ratings in other periods. The Board also remanded several service connection claims.

The Board remands the matters of entitlement to service connection for a left knee disorder and a left wrist disorder due to further development needed to ensure compliance with previous remand directives.

The Board remands the veteran's claims for service connection for various disorders, including shoulder, elbow, wrist, low back, knee, neuropathy, sleep apnea, heart, colon resection, skin cancer, and diabetes mellitus, due to inadequate VA examinations that did not address all relevant evidence.

The Board granted service connection for sleep disturbances as part of the Veteran's service-connected acquired psychiatric disorder and denied service connection for a respiratory disability, sleep apnea, right hand tremor, and right wrist strain.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for left and right ankle, shoulder, and wrist conditions due to a lack of evidence supporting current disabilities or in-service injuries.

The Board remands the claim for a bilateral wrist disability, to include carpal tunnel syndrome, as an examination is needed to determine its etiology.

The Board granted service connection for right carpal tunnel syndrome, left carpal tunnel syndrome, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) based on the onset of these conditions during active military service.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for ganglion cyst right wrist removal, status post-surgery.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for various service-connected conditions, including knee pain, back pain, and anxiety disorder.

The Board granted service connection for lumbosacral strain and left lower extremity radiculopathy, but remanded the claims for other lumbar spine disabilities, sinus disability, left knee disability, bilateral foot disability, left shoulder disability, and a compensable evaluation for a left arm wrist burn.

The Board remands the claims for a nerve disability of the right upper extremity and a right knee disability to obtain additional medical opinions that consider all relevant evidence, including lay statements regarding etiology.

The Board denied an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for left wrist scar and a compensable rating, but remanded claims for increased rating for left wrist tendon repair and service connection for low back strain.

The appeal for an increased rating for a low back condition was denied, while the claims for service connection for bilateral knee, cervical spine, bilateral shoulder, and bilateral wrist conditions were remanded.

The Board dismissed the claims for service connection and denied increased ratings, as there was no evidence supporting a diagnosis of TBI, adiposity-based chronic disease, or carpal tunnel syndrome related to service. The claim for obstructive sleep apnea was dismissed due to a previous grant of service connection.

The appeal for service connection regarding status post tenosynovitis, right wrist has been withdrawn by the Veteran.

The Board granted an initial 20 percent rating for the Veteran's lumbar spine disability, but denied higher ratings and separate ratings for other knee and thumb disabilities.

The Board denied various claims for increased ratings and service connection, including for allergic rhinitis, bladder condition, COPD, sinusitis, irritable bowel syndrome, migraine headaches, PTSD with alcohol use disorder, and hypertension.