The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for bilateral hand disabilities due to insufficient examination findings and lack of definitive opinion regarding their etiology. The case will be readjudicated after further examination.
The deciding factor: The examination report did not adequately address the Veteran’s credible reports of pain during service related to repetitive activity or exertion, nor provided a conclusive discussion on the etiology/pathophysiology of hand strain for this particular Veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hand strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20080915
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right and left wrist carpal tunnel syndrome, lumbosacral strain, cervical strain, bilateral knee strain and left knee osteoarthritis, bilateral hip trochanteric pain syndrome, bilateral elbow strain, bilateral foot degenerative arthritis, bilateral shoulder strain, and bilateral hand strain. OSA was denied.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal request was denied as it was not timely filed within one year of the rating decision.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as secondary to his service-connected disabilities is granted. The Board found that the Veteran's obesity acted as an intermediate step between his service-connected disabilities and his OSA.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral shoulder strain, a bilateral knee disability (strain with right knee osteoarthritis), a bilateral elbow disability (strain with left elbow tendonitis), bilateral hand strain, and a bilateral foot disability (plantar fasciitis with left foot calcaneal spurs).
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