Wrist & hand Board decisions

The Veteran's right upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome is granted service connection, while the left upper extremity neurological disability (claimed as carpal tunnel) remains in dispute and remanded for further examination.

The Veteran's left hand disability, right ear hearing loss, and tinnitus are granted service connection.,Service connection for hypertension is denied as there was no chronic disease during service or continuous symptoms after service.

The Board denied an initial compensable rating for burn scars of the right and left arms, finding that the scars do not meet the criteria for a compensable rating under VA's skin disability rating criteria.,Service connection was also denied for a right forearm disability, carpal tunnel syndrome of the right wrist, and bronchial asthma.

The Board has granted service connection for right carpal tunnel syndrome, finding that the Veteran's current condition is at least as likely as not related to her military service.,Service connection was denied for a left thumb disorder due to lack of evidence showing a current disability.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities, finding that her combined rating of 70% or more makes it at least as likely as not that she is unable to secure and follow substantially gainful employment.

The Board denied service connection for a right upper extremity neurological disability, finding no evidence of onset during service or within one year of presumed herbicide exposure. The disabilities were not related to service.

The Veteran's application to reopen the previously denied claim of entitlement to service connection for a right knee disorder is granted. The Board has also remanded the issues of service connection for a right wrist condition and a right knee disorder.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for degenerative joint disease, arthritis, of the right wrist/hand with advanced collapse of the scapholunate (slack wrist), and chronic disability of the lower back, lumbar spine, multilevel disc disease with spondylolisthesis. The evidence does not establish a nexus between these conditions and service.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to duty-to-assist errors, including obtaining VA examinations and additional medical opinions.

The Board has granted a maximum schedular 50 percent rating for service-connected headaches, effective since November 6, 2020. The appeal is remanded for further consideration of the issues of service connection for OSA and left-side carpal tunnel syndrome.

The Board has dismissed all service connection claims for various disabilities, including elbow, cervical spine, thoracic spine, wrist, hip, knee, bronchitis, and lumbar spine disabilities.

The Board denied service connection for left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, left elbow disorder, carpal tunnel syndrome of the right upper extremity, and carpal tunnel syndrome of the left upper extremity as there was no evidence of these conditions during or within one year after service.

The Veteran's right wrist carpal tunnel syndrome with right hand weakness is granted a disability rating of 50 percent, effective from the date of the decision.

The Board has remanded several issues for further development, including service connection for sacroiliac joint dysfunction and ratings for spinal fusion, carpal tunnel syndromes, and gastroesophageal reflux disease.

The Board has remanded several issues related to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including skin condition, lumbar spine disability, wrist and thumb disabilities, foot disabilities, ankle disabilities, and knee disabilities. The AOJ is instructed to obtain new medical opinions regarding the nature of the Veteran's treatment for his skin condition, etiology of his back and bilateral hand conditions, etiology of his foot and ankle conditions, and etiology of his bilateral knee conditions.

The Veteran's claims for effective dates earlier than April 10, 2018 for the grant of service connection for various conditions have been denied.,Effective dates cannot be established before the date of separation from active duty or the date entitlement arose if within one year.

The Board denied an effective date prior to November 14, 2008 for the grant of a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU). The earliest indication of a TDIU claim in the Veteran's record was the November 2008 correspondence.

The Veteran's service-connected left wrist and left thumb disabilities do not render him unemployable, as the evidence does not show that his disability prevents him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation.

The Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea was granted as it manifested during service and is related to service.,Bilateral shoulder disability was granted as it manifested during service with continuity of symptomatology since service.

The Veteran's diabetes mellitus type 2 is denied as there is no indication of its onset in service or a link to service.,Right elbow bursitis and left wrist arthritis are granted as the evidence supports their connection to service.