The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates and increased ratings were denied. The claim for an effective date earlier than April 6, 2015 for the grant of service connection for residual scarring was denied as it did not meet the criteria. The TDIU claim was granted with an effective date of August 15, 2012. The Veteran's disability ratings for his right thumb and left thumb disabilities were also denied.
The deciding factor: The claims were denied based on lack of evidence showing that earlier effective dates or increased ratings were warranted under the applicable regulations and criteria.
- Claimed conditions
- residual scarring, right upper extremity, right thumb metacarpophalangeal arthritis (right thumb disability), left gamekeepers thumb with metacarpophalangeal joint capsule rupture (left thumb disability)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20004649
Veterans Law Judge
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 20004649.
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