The Veteran's appeals for effective dates prior to March 12, 2015, for the awards of service connection for traumatic arthritis of the left thumb, residuals of carpal tunnel syndrome of the left upper extremity, and deviated nasal septum have all been denied.,There is no indication that any earlier claims were filed or considered by VA.
The deciding factor: The earliest claims for these disabilities were received on March 12, 2015, which is when the effective dates were assigned. No prior claims were found to have arisen before this date.
- Claimed conditions
- Traumatic arthritis of the left thumb, Residuals of carpal tunnel syndrome of the left upper extremity, status-post left wrist fracture with surgical treatment, Deviated nasal septum, status-post nasal fracture
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19147352
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted entitlement to TDIU from January 23, 2015 to October 16, 2017 based on the aggregate impact of the Veteran's service-connected disabilities precluding substantially gainful employment. The Board denied service connection for benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), finding the evidence persuasively weighs against any relationship to service or service-connected disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's service-connected generalized anxiety disorder with depressive disorder was granted a 70 percent rating for the period prior to November 27, 2013, and TDIU was granted for the same period. Service connection was also granted for bilateral shin splints, right knee chondromalacia with retained shrapnel and leg length discrepancy, and right hallux valgus.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder other than PTSD and remanded several issues, including bilateral hearing loss disability, TBI, deviated nasal septum, right ankle disability, right hip disability, mild degenerative changes of the spine claimed as a low back condition, erectile dysfunction, and initial rating for GERD.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder was granted, and the other claims were remanded due to lack of a timely VA Form 9 or substantive appeal. The left shoulder disability claim is denied as there is no evidence that it had its onset during service or is related to service. The deviated nasal septum claim results in a noncompensable rating.
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