The Board found no evidence linking current arthritis in the Veteran's hands, arms, and shoulders to his active service or exposure to herbicides. The claims were denied as there was insufficient medical evidence to support a connection.
The deciding factor: There is no competent medical evidence showing that any of the Veteran's current bilateral hand, arm, or shoulder conditions are related to his military service or exposure to herbicides in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the bilateral hands, arthritis of the bilateral arms, arthritis of the bilateral shoulders
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- December 14, 2012
- Citation
- 1242845
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 1242845.
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 denied service connection for arthritis of the bilateral hands, left shoulder disability, and right shoulder disability as there was no evidence to support a current disability or a relationship to service.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right knee osteoarthritis, finding it was aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected muscle spasm disorder due to meningitis. The issue of entitlement to service connection for arthritis of the bilateral hands is remanded.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for thoracolumbar spondylosis with degenerative joint disease and remanded claims for internal derangement of the left knee with meniscectomy, bilateral pes planus, arthritis of the shoulders, elbows, hands and fingers, legs, diabetes mellitus, hypertension.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for arthritis of the cervical spine, bilateral knees, bilateral elbows, and bilateral shoulders to obtain new VA medical opinions that adequately address whether these conditions are related to military service or aggravated by service-connected disabilities.
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