The Board denied service connection for residuals of crushing injury to the left hand, finding no competent medical evidence linking the current condition to active duty service. The Board remanded the issue of entitlement to a compensable disability evaluation for scars of the right hand to the Regional Office.
The deciding factor: The Board found that although the Veteran reported a crushing injury to both hands in Korea in 1953, no competent medical evidence established a nexus between his current left hand condition and service, the normal separation examination made no mention of left hand problems, and the 49-year gap between service and any documented left hand complaints in 2004 constituted negative evidence against the claim.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of crushing injury, left hand, scars of the right hand, residuals of crushing injury, right hand, osteoarthritis of the hands, old fractures of the hands
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2009
- Citation
- 0910498
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,515 · Granted: 20% (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 0910498.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's osteoarthritis of the hands is granted as service connected, with no specific rating assigned and effective date not determined.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for osteoarthritis of the cervical spine, lumbar spine, hands, and feet. The radiculopathy of both lower extremities is also service connected as secondary to the service-connected osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine. Service connection was denied for rheumatoid arthritis and a respiratory disorder (COPD and asthma).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for bilateral hearing loss, degenerative changes of the right hand and wrist, and scars of the right hand due to the need for updated VA examinations.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for scars of the right hand was denied as his scars do not meet the criteria for a compensable evaluation.,The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for bilateral hearing loss was also denied, as his current 30 percent rating adequately reflects the severity and symptomatology of his disability.
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