The Veteran's claim for increased evaluations for his service-connected rheumatoid arthritis was denied. The effective date of the deconstructed ratings remains March 31, 2007.
The deciding factor: The RO found that the Veteran's March 31, 2007 submission was a timely substantive appeal and assigned the effective date based on this finding.
- Claimed conditions
- rheumatoid arthritis of the right elbow, rheumatoid arthritis of the bilateral hands, rheumatoid arthritis of the bilateral wrists, rheumatoid arthritis of the bilateral knees, rheumatoid arthritis of the bilateral ankles
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 6, 2010
- Citation
- 1029513
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 1029513.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected bilateral hand disability associated with rheumatoid arthritis has resulted in loss of use of both hands, and he is granted special monthly compensation (SMC) under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(m).
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to October 17, 2007 for the grant of service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy is dismissed.,An initial disability rating in excess of 50 percent for an acquired psychiatric disability characterized as insomnia disorder with non-sleep disorder, mental comorbidity, and medical comorbidity, and adjustment disorder with depressed mood is denied.,A disability rating in excess of 10 percent for rheumatoid arthritis of the bilateral hands is denied.,A disability rating in excess of 10 percent for a back disability characterized as degenerative disc disease and stenosis of the lumbar spine, status post lumbosacral strain, is denied.,A disability rating in excess of 10 percent for right lower extremity radiculopathy is denied.,Service connection for bilateral hearing loss is not granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional examinations and consideration of the issues related to his service-connected conditions, including bruxism (claimed as teeth grinding), migraine headaches, PTSD, lumbar strain, reactive airway disease, rheumatoid arthritis of the bilateral knees, tinnitus, restless leg syndrome, left elbow chronic epicondylitis, right foot plantar fasciitis, allergic rhinitis, status-post right 4th metacarpal fracture, bilateral shin splints, erectile dysfunction, scars on the bilateral knees and left elbow, right great toe onychomycosis, and acne.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a disability rating in excess of 10 percent from August 26, 2011 for rheumatoid arthritis of the bilateral elbows, knees, and feet due to internal inconsistency in the January 2022 VA examination.
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