The Veteran's claim for residuals of an injury to the index and middle fingers of the right hand is denied as there is no evidence of a chronic disability in service or within one year thereafter, and the weight of clinical evidence does not support a link between his current condition and service.,The Veteran's claim for hypertension is denied as there was no diagnosis of hypertension during service or within one year after discharge, and the weight of clinical evidence does not support a link between his current condition and service.
The deciding factor: There is no chronic right hand disability in service, arthritis within one year of service separation, and no competent evidence of a nexus between the Veteran's service and his current right hand disability. The first diagnosis of hypertension was over 35 years after service discharge.,The Veteran's blood pressure at service discharge was well within normal limits, and he denied a history of high blood pressure at that time. There is no credible history of hypertension for 35 years post-service.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of an injury to the index and middle fingers of the right hand, hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 20, 2016
- Citation
- 1602249
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 1602249.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
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