The Veteran's bilateral hand disorders, including osteoarthritis, Dupuytren's contracture, and peripheral neuropathy, are being remanded for additional medical opinions to determine if they are aggravated by his service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not address whether the Veteran’s current hand disorders were aggravated by his service-connected flexor deformity of the right fingers and left arm tendon graft donor sites.
- Claimed conditions
- right hand osteoarthritis, right hand Dupuytren's contracture, right hand peripheral neuropathy, left hand osteoarthritis, left hand Dupuytren's contracture, left hand peripheral neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20079350
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 20079350.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for left hand and right hand osteoarthritis, finding that these conditions resulted from the Veteran's active-duty service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including back pain and arthritis of the neck, left foot, right foot, left hand, right hand, and right shoulder. The Veteran's testimony regarding in-service injuries was inconsistent with the record.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors, including incomplete medical opinions and failure to obtain relevant records such as ROTC personnel records.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeals for service connection for left foot, right hand, right foot, and left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy as untimely.
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