The VA has determined that the veteran's service-connected disabilities do not render him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment, given his educational background and occupational experience.
The deciding factor: VA examinations have shown no additional limitation of motion due to pain, fatigue, weakness, or lack of endurance on repetitive use of the joints. The impact on the veteran's ability to obtain and maintain some form of gainful employment is minimal.
- Claimed conditions
- Loss of Motion of the Middle Finger, Right Foot Disability, Severe Degenerative Joint Disease of the Knees (each knee)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- December 18, 2006
- Citation
- 0639387
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,514 · Granted: 19% (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 0639387.
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: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a right foot disability, finding that the evidence is at least approximately evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran's post-service disability was incurred in service.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for right foot, hip, and knee disabilities due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error in not obtaining opinions on causation or aggravation.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service connection claims for erectile dysfunction and voiding dysfunction have been denied due to the lack of evidence linking these conditions to his in-service exposure.,The remaining service connection claims (for bilateral feet, ankles, hip, wrist, cervical spine, upper extremity radiculopathy, psychiatric disorder, GERD, sleep apnea, and hypertension) are remanded for further development.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's lumbar spine disability is rated at 40 percent, and his left and right foot disabilities are each rated at 10 percent. The appeals for increased ratings have been denied.
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