The Board has determined that the Veteran's current left hand disability is not related to his military service and thus denied his claim for service connection.
The deciding factor: There was no evidence of any in-service aggravation or worsening of a pre-existing left hand laceration, and the condition did not begin during service. The Board found the Veteran's statements regarding an etiological relationship to service were not probative due to lack of medical knowledge.
- Claimed conditions
- left hand strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 24, 2017
- Citation
- 1735144
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 1735144.
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 a rating in excess of 10 percent for left hand strain, finding that the Veteran's symptoms and medical evidence did not support an increased rating.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for left and right hand strain, as well as left and right knee disabilities. The decision is based on the Veteran's military occupational specialty tasks that led to his current conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for headaches, left hand strain, and right-hand strain due to inadequate VA opinions.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for residuals of a left hand injury, finding that the Veteran's current disability is related to an in-service burn injury. The claim was denied previously due to a duty to assist error and then reconsidered based on new evidence.
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