The Board has denied service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome of the bilateral upper extremities and remanded the claim for a low back condition. The Veteran's carpal tunnel syndromes are not shown to be related to service, while his degenerative disc disease is less likely as not related to service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not address the relevance of the Veteran’s in-service strain and multiple issues with his back during PT exercises and long road marches.
- Claimed conditions
- carpal tunnel syndrome, right upper extremity, carpal tunnel syndrome, left upper extremity, degenerative disc disease, low back
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19109053
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,287 · Granted: 23% (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 19109053.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a 30 percent rating for carpal tunnel syndrome, right upper extremity, is denied as it is not factually ascertainable that the condition worsened prior to April 3, 2024. The Veteran's claim for DEA eligibility is also denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome in both upper extremities due to insufficient medical opinion regarding the etiology of the condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome in both upper extremities, as they are related to a service-connected back disability. The VA examiner is required to provide an opinion on whether the Veteran's service-connected back disability aggravated his bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for left and right carpal tunnel, pain of the right wrist and hand, carpal tunnel syndrome of the left upper extremity, bilateral leg condition, including pain, sciatic radicular pain, hypoesthesia, and paresthesia. The claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, chronic fatigue syndrome, headaches disability, and a 10 percent rating for sinusitis were denied.
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