The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for arthritis in both hands and arms, as well as back arthritis. The appeals were not reopened due to lack of new and material evidence.
The deciding factor: New and material evidence was not received to reopen the claims for service connection for arthritis (now claimed as arthritis in both hands and arms) and back arthritis.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis (now claimed as arthritis in both hands and arms), back arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 30, 2019
- Citation
- 19107132
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,680 · Granted: 24% (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 19107132.
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Related decisions
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The Veteran's cause of death is granted due to service-connected back arthritis and obesity contributing substantially and materially to his Covid-19, which caused pneumonia, acute respiratory syndrome, and multisystem organ failure.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims for service connection for bone disease, hemorrhoids, neck arthritis, back arthritis, bilateral hand arthritis, bilateral knee arthritis, and bilateral ankle arthritis have been dismissed due to the Veteran's withdrawal of his appeal. The claim for hypertension has been granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim of service connection for a back disability is being remanded due to the submission of new and relevant evidence, including diagnoses of arthritis, herniated nucleus pulposus, lumbar stenosis, foraminal stenosis, and left lumbar radicular pain. The VA will obtain a medical opinion to determine if these disabilities are related to service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for obstructive sleep apnea, varicose veins, back arthritis, and dorsal scoliosis are all granted. The Board found that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of OSA and credible testimony linking it to his military service.
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