The Veteran's arthritis of the left hand was not diagnosed until after service, and is not causally or etiologically related to his military service.
The deciding factor: VA medical examination found no indication that the Veteran's multiple areas of arthritis were posttraumatic in nature (other than the left thumb) and therefore were not related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis of the left hand, Degenerative joint disease (DJD) of the left thumb
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 1, 2013
- Citation
- 1307150
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 1307150.
What this means for you
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- Partly granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability was reopened, and a 20 percent rating was granted for the cervical spine condition effective July 18, 2021.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for arthritis of the right and left hands, finding that the current condition is at least as likely as not etiologically linked to the Veteran's operation of heavy machinery during active military service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for right upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome, left upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis of the right hand, and arthritis of the left hand.,Service connection is established for these conditions based on a finding that they are etiologically linked to the Veteran's military service.
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