The Board has determined that the Veteran's arthritis of both hands and residuals of cold injury to the hands are not attributable to cold injuries during service, and thus denied his claims for service connection.
The deciding factor: The VA examination found no findings consistent with previous cold injury, and concluded that the Veteran's bilateral hand arthritis was more likely than not related to normal age progression rather than cold exposure during service.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of both hands, residuals of cold injury to the hands
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 17, 2009
- Citation
- 0947808
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 0947808.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for various joint disabilities, including arthritis of the hands, feet, legs, and shoulders, were granted. The conditions are considered to be due to natural progression or injury during service.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's arthritis of both hands is service-connected, as it is considered to be at least as likely as not due to his normal course of aging rather than being incurred in or aggravated by service.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are as likely as not due to noise exposure during his period of active service. The Veteran also had a cold injury to his hands in service, but there is insufficient evidence to determine if any current hand disability is related to this injury.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for arthritis of the left knee, bilateral foot disorder, arthritis of both hands, and a disability manifested by burning and dry eyes as there is no competent evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
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