The veteran does not have carpal tunnel syndrome of the bilateral upper extremities that is related to his military service or that is secondary to his service-connected diabetes mellitus.
The deciding factor: There is no current medical evidence of carpal tunnel syndrome, and there is no nexus evidence linking the condition to either the veteran's service or to his service-connected diabetes mellitus.
- Claimed conditions
- carpal tunnel syndrome of the bilateral upper extremities
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 4, 2009
- Citation
- 0903889
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 493 · Granted: 28% (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 0903889.
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: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, carpal tunnel syndrome of the upper extremities, low back disability, eye disabilities, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, prostate cancer, and SMC at the housebound rate due to deficiencies in obtaining Social Security Administration (SSA) records related to the Veteran's claimed conditions.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for migraine headaches, lower back disability, erectile dysfunction, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and carpal tunnel syndrome of the bilateral upper extremities have been reopened. The claims are granted.,Service connection is established for migraine headaches as secondary to a service-connected adjustment disorder with mixed and depressed mood; for a lower back disability due to active duty service; for erectile dysfunction as secondary to a service-connected adjustment disorder with mixed and depressed mood; and for carpal tunnel syndrome of the bilateral upper extremities due to active duty service.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's carpal tunnel syndrome of the bilateral upper extremities is secondary or aggravated by his service-connected diabetes mellitus.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome of the bilateral upper extremities, including as due to in-service herbicide exposure or service-connected diabetes mellitus, and a compensable disability rating for bilateral hearing loss have been denied. The claim for a disability rating greater than 20 percent for diabetes mellitus has also been denied.
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