The VA examiner determined that the Veteran's bilateral hand condition is less likely than not incurred in or caused by an event, injury or illness in service. The examiner concluded that work in a cold environment would not cause ongoing hand pain unless there was previous evidence of frostbite or cold injury which was not documented in his service treatment records.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no evidence of osteoarthritis in the Veteran's hand x-rays, suggesting other forms of arthritis may be responsible for his symptoms.
- Claimed conditions
- Nonspecific Arthritis of Proximal Interphalangeal Joints (PIP) in both hands
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 19, 2018
- Citation
- 1803745
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 1803745.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
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- Granted
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