The appeal is being remanded to the RO for further development, including a VA examination to determine if the veteran's arthritis of the hands is related to service or his service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not provide a clear basis for determining whether the veteran's arthritis of the hands is directly related to service or secondary to his service-connected conditions. A remand is necessary to obtain an adequate medical opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis of the hands
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 1, 2008
- Citation
- 0814373
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and a foot condition due to lack of evidence supporting a link between the conditions and the Veteran's military service. The claim for arthritis of the hands was remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for arthritis of the hands and found that her service-connected disabilities did not prevent her from securing and maintaining some type of substantially gainful employment.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a cervical spine disability, bilateral knee disability, left ankle disability, and bilateral foot disability as secondary to the veteran's service-connected lumbar intervertebral syndrome. The claims for a bilateral elbow disability, bilateral hand disability, bilateral shoulder disability, and right ankle disability were denied.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
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