The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a right-hand disability, including Dupuytren's contracture and his claim for SMC for loss of use of the right hand. The evidence does not support that these conditions are related to service.
The deciding factor: There is no probative medical opinion linking the current right-hand disability or loss of use of the right hand to service, including herbicide exposure, heavy lifting in service, or an in-service infection.
- Claimed conditions
- Dupuytren's contracture, right-hand disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 26, 2021
- Citation
- 21032214
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 21032214.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims for tinnitus and an acquired psychiatric disability were dismissed due to improper concurrent elections.,The Board found that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of back, sciatic nerve, right shoulder, foot, skin, left-hand, or right-hand disabilities. The claim for headaches was also denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the Veteran's claims for service connection are not supported by credible evidence and must be remanded to allow for further review.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for Dupuytren's contracture and degenerative arthritis of the right hand, but remanded the issue of TDIU due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Veteran's limitation of index finger due to right hand Dupuytren's contracture has been rated at 10 percent since the beginning of the appeal period. The Board found that a higher rating is not warranted as the condition does not meet criteria for more severe stages or other diagnostic codes.
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