The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding service connection for acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and anxiety. The bilateral hand condition claim is denied as there is no current diagnosis of a peripheral nerve condition or degenerative arthritis related to service.
The deciding factor: The December 2017 VA medical addendum opinion was inadequate in providing a rationale for its conclusions regarding the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and anxiety. An additional addendum opinion is needed to address this issue.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hand condition, degenerative arthritis of hands, acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD and anxiety)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 9, 2018
- Citation
- 18140962
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 18140962.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran has withdrawn all pending appeals, including those related to service connection for various conditions and a rating for migraines and erectile dysfunction.
- Denied
The Board has determined that there is no current disability, in-service event, injury, or illness related to the Veteran's claimed conditions. Therefore, service connection for bilateral elbow condition, bilateral hand condition, bilateral knee condition, neck condition, prostate cancer, headaches, and left eye vision problem is denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for GERD as secondary to the Veteran's PTSD and tinnitus, but denied service connection for a lumbar spine disability, right ear hearing loss, chronic sinus condition, bilateral hand condition, jaw condition, aortic regurgitation, discoid lupus, residuals of peptic ulcer, left shoulder condition, right shoulder condition, cervical spine disability, left upper extremity (LUE) radiculopathy secondary to cervical spine disability, and right upper extremity (RUE) radiculopathy secondary to cervical spine disability.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims of CUE in the July 6, 2021 rating decision that denied service connection for a bilateral hand condition, a bilateral knee condition, and a low back condition.
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