The Board found that the Veteran's current bilateral hand arthritis is not related to his service, specifically his use of a jackhammer in Vietnam. The evidence does not support a finding that the disability was incurred or aggravated during service.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided by VA examiners and a VHA consulting expert were against the Veteran's claim, concluding that any relationship between the arthritis and service is speculative at best.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis of both hands
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- August 22, 2011
- Citation
- 1130988
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 1130988.
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: Denied
The Board found that there is no x-ray evidence of arthritis in either hand and the preponderance of evidence is against a finding that the Veteran sustained frostbite of his hands during service. The Veteran's trigger fingers, locking of fingers, and hyperhidrosis of the hands were not shown to be related to his service.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's cold injury residuals, including onychomycosis of the toenails and skin abnormalities of both feet, as well as arthritis of both hands, are found to be due to in-service exposure to cold weather conditions. The Board grants service connection for these conditions.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's arthritis of both hands is not related to his service or any service-connected condition, and thus denied his claim for service connection.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for arthritis of both hands was denied as there is no x-ray evidence of arthritis and the preponderance of evidence against a finding that his HIV caused or aggravated these conditions.,The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for HIV disability was denied as he did not show refractory constitutional symptoms or progressive weight loss.
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