The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral hammertoes were not incurred or aggravated during service and are unrelated to his military service. The claim for service connection is therefore denied.
The deciding factor: There was no evidence of hammertoes being diagnosed or treated on service treatment records, and the VA examiner found that hammertoes were less likely caused by service in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hammertoes
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19195083
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 19195083.
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
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