The Veteran's claims for service connection for various hand, shoulder, elbow, and cold exposure injuries have been denied as there is no current evidence of any disabilities or their onset during service.
The deciding factor: There are no current diagnoses of the claimed conditions in the record, and the VA examinations did not find any residuals from the alleged exposures.
- Claimed conditions
- Right hand thumb, Right hand index finger, Right hand middle finger, Right hand ring finger, Right hand little finger, Left hand thumb, Left hand index finger, Left hand middle finger, Left hand ring finger, Left hand little finger, Right shoulder, Left shoulder, Right elbow, Left elbow
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 3, 2021
- Citation
- A21019279
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 A21019279.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
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 low back strain, left shoulder, and supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) based on evidence showing a causal relationship to in-service events or injuries.
- Denied
The Board found that the reduction of the Veteran's VA compensation benefits to a 5% rate effective November 1, 2016 was proper due to his incarceration for more than 60 days following conviction of a felony offense. The appeal is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence has been received with respect to all the service connection claims on appeal. The claims are being remanded for further development, including obtaining VA examinations and medical opinions to determine the nature and etiology of the claimed conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for right shoulder, elbow limitation, elbow flexion, and lateral epicondylitis with tendinitis. The claim for a compensable rating for allergic rhinitis was remanded.
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