The VA denied the veteran's claim for service connection for right hand arthritis, finding that there is no evidence of a current disability and that it is not related to his service-connected condition.
The deciding factor: The VA determined that the veteran does not have a current right hand arthritis disability and that any arthritis found is not causally or etiologically related to his service-connected quadrigea effect of the right hand with postoperative impairment of the middle and ring fingers.
- Claimed conditions
- right hand arthritis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 28, 2004
- Citation
- 0417134
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 0417134.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for left and right hand arthritis to obtain a new VA medical opinion addressing the Veteran's disability under a presumption of soundness.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings, finding that the evidence did not support a link between his current conditions and his military service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted the status as a surviving spouse for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) purposes, denied service connection for right hand arthritis and obstructive sleep apnea, granted service connection for chronic myelocytic leukemia, and denied earlier effective dates for tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss. The claims for increased ratings and other remanded issues were also addressed.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for hypertension and remanded the claims for bilateral hand, hip, knee, and lumbosacral arthritis to provide further development.
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