The Board dismissed the petition to reopen the claim for service connection for a left thumb disability. The petition to reopen the claim for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, was granted but denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service treatment records did not document any onset of a psychiatric disorder during active service and his lay statements were inconsistent regarding combat exposure and fear of hostile military or terrorist activity.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Thumb Disability, Psychiatric Disorder (including PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 14, 2020
- Citation
- 20003003
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,911 · Granted: 10% (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 20003003.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected. The claims for alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorder are remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have any of the claimed disabilities and therefore, service connection for right thumb, left thumb, right index finger, left index finger, right middle finger, left middle finger, right ring finger, left ring finger, right small finger, or left small finger disabilities is denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for several disabilities, including left thumb, left wrist, right hip, back, and sciatic nerve conditions, but denied service connection for diabetes mellitus.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for TBI, RLE radicular pain, sinusitis, and an increased rating for PTSD. The claims for service connection for DM II, ED, headaches, left thumb disability and scar, right thumb, increased ratings for rhinitis, IBS with GERD, and OSA with bronchitis were remanded.
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