The Veteran's carpal tunnel syndrome, left wrist was not initially service connected due to lack of evidence. However, new EMG results from April 2016 show current disability and the VA examiner did not consider these records in their assessment. The Board has ordered additional medical records and a new opinion.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's carpal tunnel syndrome was not initially service connected due to lack of evidence, but new EMG results indicate current disability.
- Claimed conditions
- carpal tunnel syndrome, left wrist
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19104977
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 882 · Granted: 17% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19104977.
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 appeal for neck pain pinched nerve severe arthritis cervical spine is dismissed as a matter of law. Service connection and increased ratings are granted for major depression, mental disorder anxiety and PTSD, carpal tunnel syndrome (both wrists), and migraine including migraine variants.
- Granted
The Board granted the appeal regarding the timeliness of the Notice of Disagreement, accepting it as timely. The Regional Office must now address the issues raised in the January 11, 2021 Notice of Disagreement.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases of numbness in the left arm and bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome due to inadequate compliance with previous remand directives. The Veteran's claims are being returned for further development, including obtaining addendum opinions from a neurologist regarding the nature and etiology of his claimed conditions.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome of the left and right wrists, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to active service.
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