The Veteran's right wrist disability is currently rated at 70 percent from December 20, 2019. The Board has remanded the case for a new VA medical opinion to determine if the Veteran's right wrist degenerative arthritis was tantamount to loss of use of his right hand prior to December 20, 2019.
The deciding factor: The March 2021 VA examiner did not provide a clear rationale for their conclusion regarding the severity and impact of the Veteran's right wrist disability on his ability to use his right hand.
- Claimed conditions
- Right wrist degenerative arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 6, 2021
- Citation
- 21062157
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,092 · Granted: 42% (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 21062157.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's PTSD was rated at 50% from November 9, 2018 to March 8, 2019. The rating for PTSD is denied.,Ratings for left and right wrist degenerative arthritis were both denied as they did not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
- Denied
The Veteran's TDIU claim is denied as his service-connected disabilities do not meet the schedular criteria for a TDIU, and there are no exceptional circumstances warranting extraschedular consideration.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for right and left wrist degenerative arthritis, finding that the Veteran's current condition is at least as likely as not related to her military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's TDIU claim is denied as he has not been precluded from obtaining or retaining substantially gainful employment solely due to his service-connected disabilities.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.