The Veteran's claims for service connection were denied in December 2014, and he did not appeal. The effective date of the grants was set at February 22, 2017.,The Veteran's claim for a painful surgical scar of the left index finger was granted with an evaluation of 10 percent effective January 15, 2018. He requested an earlier effective date.
The deciding factor: The claims were denied in December 2014 and did not have any appeal.,The Veteran's claim for the painful surgical scar was granted with a 10 percent evaluation effective January 15, 2018. The earliest indication of this condition was at the January 2018 VA examination.
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder labral tear, right 4th metacarpal fracture, surgical scar, left shoulder, painful surgical scar, left index finger
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20000974
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,421 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 20000974.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service connection claim for sinusitis is granted, and the increased rating claim for left shoulder labral tear is remanded.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal, which was dismissed due to the appellant's request for withdrawal.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that VA did not obtain all relevant Social Security Administration records, which may contain pertinent medical evidence. The case is therefore being remanded to allow for the retrieval of these records.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's appeal for a higher rating for his service-connected left shoulder disability was denied.,The Veteran was granted entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities, subject to controlling regulations governing the payment of monetary awards.,The Veteran was granted an effective date of October 1, 2019, for the award of special monthly compensation (SMC) based on need for aid and attendance, subject to controlling regulations governing the payment of monetary awards.
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