The Board found no evidence of a disability manifested by numbness of the bilateral upper extremities during service or within one year post-service, and could not directly relate it to herbicide exposure. The claim for service connection is denied.
The deciding factor: The VA examination report indicated that the veteran's numbness of the bilateral upper extremities could not be directly related to herbicide exposure without resorting to mere speculation.
- Claimed conditions
- numbness of bilateral upper extremities
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- September 25, 2008
- Citation
- 0833035
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 0833035.
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 Board dismissed all appeals related to service connection and increased ratings, except for the grant of a 70 percent rating for PTSD from August 30, 2013 onward. The Veteran was also granted TDIU effective January 6, 2011.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR) that found the Board erred in not addressing whether service connection is warranted for Raynaud's syndrome, to include as secondary to the Veteran’s service-connected ischemic heart disease. The JMPR also noted that the Veteran had Raynaud's syndrome and numbness of the fingers due to metoprolol prescribed for his service-connected coronary artery disease.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for numbness of the bilateral upper extremities and basal cell carcinoma of the skin, to include as due to Agent Orange exposure, is denied. The Board found no current diagnosis of numbness of bilateral upper extremities or sufficient evidence of functional impairment to constitute a disability. For the second issue, the Veteran's BCC was not related to his service in Vietnam.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
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