The Veteran's left hand disability, including numbness and loss of strength, has worsened. The Board finds that a new VA examination is needed to assess the current severity of his condition.
The deciding factor: The Veteran reported worsening symptoms including numbness and tingling in his left hand during the hearing and at the VA examination.
- Claimed conditions
- left hand disability, numbness in left hand, loss of strength in left hand
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19116007
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,092 · Granted: 42% (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 19116007.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hand disabilities due to inadequate examination and potential toxic exposure during service.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for various orthopedic disabilities, including wrist, hand, finger, knee, and lumbar spine conditions, based on a lack of evidence linking these conditions to the Veteran's military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for psychiatric disabilities, tobacco use disorder, erectile dysfunction, hypertension, left hand disability, right hand disability, and bilateral hearing loss have all been denied.,Service connection cannot be established as the evidence does not support a current diagnosis of any of these conditions.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis for any of the claimed conditions and thus, service connection is denied.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.