The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not preclude him from obtaining or maintaining gainful employment consistent with his education and occupational experience.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has a combined rating of 60% for all service-connected disabilities, which meets the schedular requirements for TDIU. However, his educational and vocational history show he is capable of engaging in relatively sedentary occupations that do not require dexterity of the right wrist or extensive handwriting.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of a right wrist fusion, residuals of a non-united fracture of the right medial malleolus, right carpal tunnel syndrome, scars, residual from surgeries
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- December 4, 2017
- Citation
- 1755690
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 1755690.
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.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeal as it found that the benefits originally sought have been granted in full, and thus there is no longer a specific error of fact or law to address.
- Granted
The Veteran's left and right carpal tunnel syndrome have been granted increased ratings to 20% and 30%, respectively, effective from the date of the decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the claims for service connection for hypertension, left carpal tunnel syndrome, right carpal tunnel syndrome, and a left foot condition must be remanded due to inadequate medical opinions. The claim for an effective date of February 25, 2024 for bipolar disorder is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's TDIU claim is being remanded due to a failure to obtain relevant VA medical records from the San Juan VA Medical Center. The Veteran meets the schedular threshold for TDIU based on his service-connected disabilities and combined rating of 70 percent.
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