The Board has determined that the veteran's contractures of the hands and sleep disorder were not incurred or aggravated by service, including as due to Agent Orange exposure. The claim for service connection is denied.
The deciding factor: There was no evidence linking the disabilities to service or to herbicide exposure therein.
- Claimed conditions
- Contractures of the hands, Sleep disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 5, 2006
- Citation
- 0600188
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,699 · Granted: 17% (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 0600188.
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: Denied
The Board has denied service connection for generalized anxiety disorder and a sleep disorder as there is no evidence of these conditions during or within one year after service, and the Veteran's statements regarding their onset in service are not credible.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a sleep disorder, finding that there is no current diagnosis of a separate and distinct sleep disorder. The Veteran's sleep symptoms are considered part of his service-connected bipolar disorder I.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, bilateral hearing loss, bilateral tinnitus, sleep disorder, erectile dysfunction, and right eye injury as new and relevant evidence was not received to readjudicate these claims.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's service-connected right and left knee disabilities, granted a 20% rating for each, and denied an increased rating for degenerative disc disease of the spine. The Board also denied increased ratings for generalized anxiety disorder and service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder, bruxism, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, fatigue, and sleep disorder.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.