The Board has granted service connection for the veteran's claimed residuals of cold injury to both hands, finding that there is an equipoise of evidence regarding the existence of Raynaud's phenomenon and exposure to extreme cold temperatures during military service.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence is in equipoise as to whether the veteran's symptoms are due to Raynaud's disease or arthritis, with the Board granting service connection based on exposure to extreme cold temperatures during service.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of cold injury, right hand, residuals of cold injury, left hand
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 21, 2006
- Citation
- 0636258
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,555 · Granted: 19% (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 0636258.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 decided that the Veteran's cold injury service-connected disabilities have not been evaluated by VA examination since 2015. More recent VA treatment records reflect changes in the severity of these disabilities, and updated VA examinations are needed.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims due to inadequate opinions in the previous rating decisions and a need for further examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including an examination and medical opinion regarding the Veteran's service-connected residuals of cold injury to both hands. The claims are being returned to the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office for further action.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the appellant's service-connected disabilities render him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation, and thus grants TDIU.
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