The Veteran's arthritis of the hands, elbows and cervical spine was not incurred in or aggravated by active duty. The Board found that there is no reasonable possibility that any medical opinion would substantiate the claim.
The deciding factor: There is no competent evidence of a nexus between the Veteran's current arthritis and his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the hands, arthritis of the elbows, arthritis of the cervical spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 17, 2009
- Citation
- 0914436
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 0914436.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for PTSD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, unspecified psychosis, arthritis of the lumbar spine, degenerative disc disease, multilevel spinal stenosis, and arthritis of the cervical spine and degenerative disc disease. The diagnoses are linked to in-service physical assaults.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and dismissed all other appeals related to various joint conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence has been presented to warrant readjudication of the claim for service connection for arthritis of the knees, elbows, and hands. The matter is being remanded for further consideration on a secondary basis due to the Veteran's assertions regarding his hips locking and falling into foxholes.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a cervical spine disability including arthritis of the cervical spine, and herniated nucleus pulposus of cervical spine secondary to his service-connected lumbosacral strain with intervertebral disc syndrome.
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