The Veteran's claims for service connection for left and right hand conditions were denied. The Board found no current diagnosis of a disability in either hand, and the preponderance of evidence did not support attributing his symptoms to exposure to hazardous substances during service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's complaints of hand pain began prior to his deployment to the Southwest Asia theater of operations and could not be attributed to any known clinical diagnoses or exposure to hazardous substances incurred in service.
- Claimed conditions
- left hand condition, right hand condition
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- May 27, 2015
- Citation
- 1522350
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 1522350.
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: Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for left elbow, hand, and knee conditions related to gout have been granted. The claim for a left hip condition has been denied due to lack of current disability evidence. Service connection for the left shoulder condition is also denied.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for lumbosacral spine condition, left wrist condition, and left hand condition due to pre-decisional errors in obtaining evidence and developing his claims.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for low back condition, left hand condition, diabetes mellitus type II, hypertension, and pseudofolliculitis barbae. The Board found that there is no evidence of a continuity of symptoms since service or a nexus to service.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to the PACT Act requiring a TERA-specific examination and secondary service connection evaluations.
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