The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for osteoarthritis of the hands and increased ratings for hypertension and tinnitus. The decision also noted that the veteran was receiving the maximum schedular evaluation for his tinnitus.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no evidence of osteoarthritis in the veteran's hands, which is inconsistent with his claim. For hypertension, the Board agreed that the diagnosis was well-documented but did not find any basis to grant a higher rating as the current schedular criteria were already met.
- Claimed conditions
- osteoarthritis of the hands
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 25, 2004
- Citation
- 0407853
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,177 · Granted: 24% (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 0407853.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's osteoarthritis of the hands is granted as service connected, with no specific rating assigned and effective date not determined.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for osteoarthritis of the cervical spine, lumbar spine, hands, and feet. The radiculopathy of both lower extremities is also service connected as secondary to the service-connected osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine. Service connection was denied for rheumatoid arthritis and a respiratory disorder (COPD and asthma).
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for osteoarthritis of the hands and feet as secondary to service-connected frostbite residuals.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for osteoarthritis of the back, hands, neck, and right knee as new evidence was submitted. The Veteran's PTSD claim is also being remanded.
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