The Board has determined that there is no legal entitlement to an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for scars of the left hand, as the veteran did not file a formal or informal claim prior to March 21, 2003.
The deciding factor: The veteran's statements and medical evidence dated prior to March 21, 2003 did not demonstrate an intent to raise an informal claim for scars of the left hand.
- Claimed conditions
- scars of the left hand
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 8, 2006
- Citation
- 0606617
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,013 · Granted: 17% (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 0606617.
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 has found that there has not been substantial compliance with its prior remand directives and has therefore ordered the claims for service connection for various conditions to be remanded for further development.
- Granted
The Veteran's vertigo and migraine headaches are granted as secondary to her service-connected right ear hearing loss. The Veteran's arthritis of the left wrist, right wrist, left hand, and lower extremities are remanded for further examination and opinion. Her Raynaud's syndromes and knee/ankle conditions are also remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for TDIU, finding that prior to June 20, 2014, there was no evidence showing he was unemployable due to his service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board found that the May 1970 rating decision incorrectly assigned a single 10% rating for three separate scars of the left hand. The December 2008 rating decision correctly implemented this by assigning three separate 10% ratings effective from April 30, 1970.
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.