The Board has determined that the Veteran's current low back and bilateral hand disabilities did not have their onset during active service, were not chronic during service, did not manifest to a compensable degree within one year of service separation, and are not etiologically related to his military service. Therefore, service connection for these conditions is denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's current low back and bilateral hand disabilities have no direct link to his active service as evidenced by the lack of in-service treatment records and the absence of a nexus between the disabilities and his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder, Low back disability, Bilateral hand disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 17, 2017
- Citation
- 1712331
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 1712331.
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 Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disability and an increased rating for his acquired psychiatric disorder. The Board found that there was no evidence linking the current disabilities to military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected low back disability alone does not prevent him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for a determination on whether injuries sustained in a November 2001 incident were in the line of duty. The claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is also remanded due to its interdependence with the line of duty issue.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a duty to assist error in failing to obtain private treatment records from the Veteran's treating clinician.
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