The Board has denied the veteran's claim for service connection for arthritis of multiple joints, including arthritis of her hands. The VA examiner could not provide a definitive etiological relationship between any diagnosed conditions and military service.
The deciding factor: VA examination findings did not support a direct service connection due to lack of evidence of chronic diagnoses during service.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of multiple joints, arthritis of the hands, right shoulder bursitis, mild osteoarthritis of the bilateral knees, arthritis of the first metatarsophalangeal joint of the right foot
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- October 20, 2006
- Citation
- 0632697
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,464 · Granted: 14% (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 0632697.
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: Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for revising the May 2013 rating decision regarding initial, 10 percent disability ratings for left and right shoulder disabilities due to CUE is dismissed because it is legally precluded by the doctrine of res judicata.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence has been presented to warrant readjudication of the claim for service connection for arthritis of the knees, elbows, and hands. The matter is being remanded for further consideration on a secondary basis due to the Veteran's assertions regarding his hips locking and falling into foxholes.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for right shoulder and left shoulder disorders, finding that the Veteran's current diagnoses are related to his military service.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for right and left shoulder disabilities were denied because she failed to report for scheduled VA examinations without good cause.
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