The Board has determined that the veteran's service connection claim for residuals of a right hand fracture was denied due to an inability to obtain his service medical records, which were not in the record.
The deciding factor: VA failed to locate the veteran's service medical records, preventing them from establishing that an injury occurred during active duty.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of a right hand fracture
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 14, 2004
- Citation
- 0401289
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,458 · Granted: 24% (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 0401289.
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: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to unclear information regarding whether the Veteran's symptoms are related to his service-connected right hand fracture or a separate disability. A new examination is needed to clarify this.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's right hand disability and PTSD with insomnia have been granted service connection. Effective September 29, 2023, the Veteran is assigned a 70 percent rating for his PTSD with insomnia.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to the need for a VA examination and medical nexus opinion regarding the Veteran's right hand and wrist injuries.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for residuals of a right hand fracture is remanded due to the VA examinations not addressing all manifestations of the service-connected disability.
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