The Board finds that the veteran's arthritis of the hands is as likely as not due to military service, but his other joint conditions are not related to his active service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that some changes in the joints of the hands were related to service and cold exposure, and as likely as not related to cold injury as they are to obesity, diabetes, and age.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the neck, arthritis of the back, arthritis of the feet, arthritis of the ankles, arthritis of the shoulders, arthritis of the arms and hands
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 21, 2004
- Citation
- 0415960
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 0415960.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various claimed disabilities, including right and left knee replacements, ankle sprains, neck strain, lumbosacral strain, rotator cuff tear, shoulder dislocation, and sleep apnea, as the evidence did not support a finding of a nexus between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeals for service connection of various conditions as they were premature, and denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II and a migraine headache disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claims for service connection for arthritis of the feet and plantar fasciitis to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for a bilateral eye disability manifested by blurry vision and remanded the claims for service connection for psoriasis, arthritis of the back, right and left knee disabilities, and a gastrointestinal disability.
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