The Veteran's claims for service connection for osteoarthritis of the left wrist, right wrist, left elbow, and right elbow have been denied.,The Veteran's claims for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the left-hand thumb, right-hand thumb, left-hand pinky, right-hand pinky, left shoulder, and right shoulder have been granted.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not support a finding that the Veteran has current diagnoses of osteoarthritis of the wrists or elbows. The medical opinions are in favor of service connection for degenerative arthritis of the hands and shoulders.
- Claimed conditions
- Osteoarthritis of the left wrist, Osteoarthritis of the right wrist, Osteoarthritis of the left elbow, Osteoarthritis of the right elbow, Degenerative arthritis of the left-hand thumb, Degenerative arthritis of the right-hand thumb, Degenerative arthritis of the left-hand pinky, Degenerative arthritis of the right-hand pinky, Osteoarthritis of the left shoulder, Osteoarthritis of the right shoulder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- January 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20004525
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 793 · Granted: 28% (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 20004525.
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.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for degenerative joint disease of the left and right knee, osteoarthritis of the left shoulder, a right shoulder condition, and intervertebral disc disorder of the spine as there is no evidence to support that these conditions were incurred or aggravated by military service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for osteoarthritis of the left wrist and a back disability, finding that there was no evidence to support a link between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for degenerative disc disease of the spine, and osteoarthritis of the right shoulder and left shoulder based on evidence showing that these conditions had onset during active military service.
- Denied
The Board denied a higher rating for the right shoulder disability and service connection for bilateral hearing loss.
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