The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hand strain with arthritic issues, finding that the Veteran's current disability is related to his active service and service-connected cervical spine disability.
The deciding factor: The March 2021 private physician concluded that it would be difficult to separate the Veteran’s (nonservice-connected) arthritic and (service-connected) neurologic pain, supporting the grant of service connection for left and right hand strain with arthritis.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hand strain, arthritic issues
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 28, 2021
- Citation
- 21025682
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 21025682.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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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