The VA has denied the veteran's claim for a higher rating for his right hand disability, finding that the evidence does not support an increase beyond the current 20 percent rating.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence shows limitation of motion in some fingers but no ankylosis or equivalent impairment to warrant a higher rating.
- Claimed conditions
- Right hand injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- July 27, 2006
- Citation
- 0622280
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,669 · Granted: 23% (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 0622280.
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 Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is remanded due to errors in the duty to assist process prior to November 15, 2014.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for further development and to obtain missing service treatment records, as well as private medical records. A VA examination will be conducted to determine if the appellant's right hand and little finger injuries are related to his active duty training.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeal as his September 2017 VA Form 9 was not timely filed, making the June 2015 rating decision final.
- Granted
The Veteran's right hand disability, including all associated conditions, is rated at the highest possible level of 50 percent for the entire initial rating period on appeal.
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