The Board found that there is no objective evidence of arthritis in the veteran's left hand, and thus denied service connection for arthritis as secondary to his service-connected residuals of a left hand injury. The claim for an increased rating was also denied due to lack of evidence showing limitation of motion or other disabling conditions.
The deciding factor: The x-ray evidence did not show any signs of arthritis in the veteran's left hand, and there is no objective medical evidence supporting the presence of arthritis.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis of the left hand
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 11, 2003
- Citation
- 0307030
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,464 · Granted: 14% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0307030.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for diabetes mellitus, heart disease including myocarditis and pericarditis, hypertension, and pancreatitis as secondary to alcoholism due to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD. Service connection was also granted for left ear hearing loss and arthritis of the left hand on a direct basis.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability was reopened, and a 20 percent rating was granted for the cervical spine condition effective July 18, 2021.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board granted service connection for arthritis of the right and left hands, finding that the current condition is at least as likely as not etiologically linked to the Veteran's operation of heavy machinery during active military service.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for right upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome, left upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis of the right hand, and arthritis of the left hand.,Service connection is established for these conditions based on a finding that they are etiologically linked to the Veteran's military service.
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