The veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection were granted, with a 10% evaluation assigned for the right long metacarpal boss. Service connection was also established for arthritis of the right wrist and numbness of the right leg.
The deciding factor: Service connection was granted based on presumptive exposure to an undiagnosed illness during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Right long metacarpal boss, Arthritis of the right wrist, Numbness of the right leg
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- February 6, 2003
- Citation
- 0302330
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,055 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0302330.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's right wrist disability, which includes numbness, swelling, locking, tremors, reduced grip strength, and stomach upset due to arthritis, has been granted an extraschedular rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for an increased rating in excess of 10 percent for arthritis of the right wrist due to outstanding VA treatment records and the need for a retrospective medical opinion regarding functional loss during flare-ups.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings of his right wrist and thumb disabilities have been denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a finding of more than two inches gap between the thumb pad and fingers, thus denying any higher rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings and earlier effective dates due to the need for additional development, including obtaining VA treatment records and scheduling a new VA examination.
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