The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims of service connection for right hand disability and a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss due to insufficient opinions regarding direct service connection, aggravation, and the need for new examinations.
The deciding factor: The opinions provided were inadequate as they did not address the significance of the time gap between the Veteran's military service and his current condition or provide an explanation for why the right hand condition was not aggravated by the service-connected right finger disability.
- Claimed conditions
- right-hand carpal tunnel syndrome, ulnar neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 8, 2020
- Citation
- 20001704
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,011 · Granted: 24% (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 20001704.
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 decided that the Veteran's claim for a higher rating for ulnar neuropathy of the right upper extremity should be remanded due to incomplete evidence.
- Granted
The Veteran's left and right carpal tunnel syndrome, along with ulnar neuropathy, are rated at 30% since March 1, 2012.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome, erectile dysfunction, pseudofolliculitis barbae, and right-hand and left-hand carpal tunnel syndrome. Service connection was denied for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, and initial ratings were denied for migraines, right knee strain, and hypothyroidism.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for a right and left hand condition (diagnosed as ulnar neuropathy) to obtain an additional medical opinion.
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