The Board has denied an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for the Veteran's right middle finger disability, finding that the condition is rated at its maximum schedular rating due to painful motion and no indication of ankylosis or amputation.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of evidence shows that the Veteran’s right-hand condition more nearly approximates a 10 percent rating which is the maximum for this condition. Ankylosis is not established, and there has been no amputation.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Middle Finger Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- December 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20081058
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 170 · Granted: 18% (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 20081058.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection have been reopened due to the submission of new and relevant evidence. Service connection is granted for PTSD, OSA, bilateral hearing loss, neck disability, right shoulder disability, right middle finger disability, right ankle disability, and left leg disability.,The Board has determined that the Veteran's current disabilities are related to his service or service-connected conditions.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have any of the claimed disabilities and therefore, service connection for right thumb, left thumb, right index finger, left index finger, right middle finger, left middle finger, right ring finger, left ring finger, right small finger, or left small finger disabilities is denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's major depressive disorder is granted a 100 percent rating. The right middle finger disability remains at a 10 percent rating, and the right knee strain reduction from 20 to 10 percent is upheld.
- Granted
The Veteran's right middle finger disability, which manifested as painful motion and limited use of his hand, was granted an initial 10 percent rating.
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