The Board found that arthritis of the bilateral hands and arthritis of the bilateral shoulders are not related to active service, thus denying these claims.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that osteoarthritis is unlikely in a 21-year-old veteran during active service, and there was no evidence of chronic bilateral shoulder condition while on active duty.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis of the bilateral hands, Arthritis of the bilateral shoulders
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 31, 2017
- Citation
- 1730366
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 1730366.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that a disability rating greater than 50 percent for other specified trauma and stress-related disorder is denied, service connection for arthritis of the bilateral knees, shoulders, hands, hips, elbows, and ankles is granted, and service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted. The issue of service connection for a lumbar spine disorder has been remanded.
- Denied
The VA examiner found that the Veteran's osteoarthritis in both hands was less likely than not incurred in or caused by service-connected PTSD and/or Raynaud's phenomenon. The Board concluded that the preponderance of evidence is against entitlement to service connection for arthritis of the bilateral hands, as secondary to service-connected PTSD and/or Raynaud's phenomenon.
- Partly granted
The Board found that new and material evidence had been submitted to reopen the claims for service connection for arthritis of the bilateral hands and feet, but denied a rating in excess of 10 percent for hypertension.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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