The Veteran's currently diagnosed osteoarthritis of the right and left elbows is related to his service, resulting in a grant of service connection for these conditions.
The deciding factor: A VA examiner concluded that the Veteran's current osteoarthritis of the right and left elbows is at least as likely as not related to his service due to overuse from weightlifting and other activities during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Osteoarthritis of the right elbow, Osteoarthritis of the left elbow
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 23, 2016
- Citation
- 1637466
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 1637466.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further examination to determine if he has loss of use of his upper or lower extremities, which would be required for SMC(r)(1) entitlement. The current VA examination was deemed inadequate and additional development is needed.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for the non-dominant left elbow disability and osteoarthritis of the left elbow, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating than 20 percent.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that another remand is necessary to ensure proper evaluations and opinions for the Veteran's claimed osteoarthritis conditions, as well as his right foot bunion with spurring.
- Denied
The veteran's claims for service connection for osteoarthritis of the feet, hands, right elbow, ankles, and left great toe were denied. The RO also addressed other issues such as increased evaluations for shoulder conditions, a claim to reopen for knee condition (claimed as osteoarthritis), an effective date for right shoulder condition, and TDIU.
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