The Board has determined that the Veteran's current left hand and lower back conditions are not related to his active service, and therefore denied both claims.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence of a chronic condition or injury in service, and any current disabilities are not etiologically linked to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Residuals of a left hand injury, Degenerative disc disease and degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2014
- Citation
- 1448087
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 1448087.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's cervical and thoracolumbar spine disabilities were found to not meet the criteria for increased ratings, with the most severe forward flexion of the thoracolumbar spine being limited to 40 degrees and that of the cervical spine limited to 20 degrees.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased disability ratings due to inadequate VA examinations. The Veteran is seeking higher ratings for his cervical spine and low back disabilities.
- Denied
The Veteran did not sustain any injuries to his back or left hand during service, nor is there evidence of a link between these conditions and service.,There was no injury to the Veteran's left hand in service. The Board found that any claimed left hand disorder is not related to service.
- Denied
The Board denied increased evaluations for various service-connected conditions, finding that the evidence did not meet the criteria for higher ratings under either version of the applicable rating criteria.
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