The veteran's right ankle sprain was not incurred in service, but he is now rated at 10% for his right index finger disability.
The deciding factor: VA examiners could not determine a connection between the current right ankle condition and the inservice injury without resorting to speculation. The VA examiner also noted that there was no anatomical predisposition for this to occur again, making it impossible to establish a nexus.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Ankle Sprain, Right Index Finger Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- April 5, 2005
- Citation
- 0509957
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 0509957.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's right ankle disability, which includes a Brostrom reconstruction and right ankle sprain, is currently rated at 10 percent prior to November 14, 2024. The Board has granted a 20 percent rating for the entire period on appeal based on marked limited motion of the right ankle.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for increased ratings of his acquired psychiatric, cervical spine, lumbar spine, right thumb, right index finger, and right long finger disabilities.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not result in the physical loss or permanent loss of use of his hands or feet, nor does he have a severe burn injury. Therefore, he is ineligible for financial assistance for an automobile and adaptive equipment.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have any of the claimed disabilities and therefore, service connection for right thumb, left thumb, right index finger, left index finger, right middle finger, left middle finger, right ring finger, left ring finger, right small finger, or left small finger disabilities is denied.
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