The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for Dupuytren's contractures of both hands, finding that his claim was not well-grounded.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not link the current bilateral hand disorder to playing a stringed instrument during military service and there was no medical evidence showing an in-service incurrence or aggravation of the condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Dupuytren's contractures
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 26, 2000
- Citation
- 0014038
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0014038.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for bilateral hand arthritis and Dupuytren's contractures secondary to type II Diabetes Mellitus (DM) due to insufficient medical opinions addressing the relationship between these conditions and his service-connected DM.
- Granted
The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim of service connection for an autoimmune disease of unspecified diagnosis, originally claimed as multifocal fibrosclerosis and manifested by scleroderma, Raynaud's disease, Sjögren's syndrome, Peyronie's disease, and Dupuytren's contractures. The evidence now shows that loss of teeth in service was due to Sjögren's disease, an autoimmune condition.
- Denied
The Board found no evidence that the Veteran's current right hand disability, including Dupuytren's contractures and arthritis, is related to his service-connected left knee disability. The claim for secondary service connection was denied.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted service connection for diabetes mellitus Type II, diabetic retinopathy and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy as complications of his diabetes, hypertension, and Dupuytren's contractures. Service connection is also granted for essential hypertension, but not related to herbicide exposure.
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