The Board denied service connection for the veteran's claimed disabilities, finding that there was no evidence of frostbite or fragment wounds during service and concluding that any current arthritis is not related to service.
The deciding factor: The medical records do not support a finding of frostbite or fragment wound injuries in service. The current arthritis is attributed to degenerative joint disease rather than the claimed injuries.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of frostbite of the feet, residuals of fragment wound to the right thigh, degenerative arthritis of the first metatarsophalangeal joint bilaterally (right foot), degenerative arthritis of the right knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 31, 2002
- Citation
- 0205664
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 0205664.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Remanded (sent back)
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- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for degenerative arthritis of the right and left knees, headaches as proximately due to PTSD, and erectile dysfunction as proximately due to PTSD. The claims for an earlier effective date for a 100 percent rating for PTSD and a 70 percent rating for PTSD were denied, as was the claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability. Several other claims were remanded.
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