The Board denied service connection for degenerative disease of the right shoulder and hands, including as secondary to arthralgia-myalgia syndrome, probable rheumatoid arthritis, and arthritis of left shoulder. The evidence did not show that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by active military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations did not find a direct link between the veteran's current joint complaints and his service-connected arthralgia-myalgia syndrome, probable rheumatoid arthritis, and there was no evidence of chronicity of the claimed conditions within one year after service.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis of left shoulder, Degenerative arthritis of the hands (including rotator cuff tear), Degenerative disease of the right shoulder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 25, 2006
- Citation
- 0611879
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,421 · Granted: 29% (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 0611879.
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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 remanded the claims for service connection for arthritis of the left hand, right hand, left knee, and right knee as secondary to service-connected hepatitis C (HCV) due to procedural errors in obtaining medical opinions addressing whether HCV caused or aggravated these conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection have been reopened, and he is now entitled to a new VA examination to determine the etiology of his claimed conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for additional examinations and assessments of his current disabilities, including lumbar spine, bilateral shoulder, left ankle, bilateral knee, and sleep apnea.
- Partly granted
The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims for service connection of arthritis of the left and right shoulders due to new evidence received since the last denial. However, no rating increase was granted as the residuals of a fracture of the right little finger continue to meet the criteria for a non-compensable evaluation.
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