The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for bilateral hand disabilities due to insufficient examination findings and lack of discussion regarding the Veteran's reports of pain during service.
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 opinion on the etiology or 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
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,249 · Granted: 37% (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 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 has granted service connection for bilateral hand strain and a bilateral elbow disability, finding that the Veteran's symptoms began during active service and have persisted since.
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