The Board denied the Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. §1151 due to lack of evidence showing that his right hand disability was caused by carelessness, negligence, or error in judgment from VA's treatment.
The deciding factor: The Board found no evidence of any errors in the surgical procedure and concluded that the Veteran's resulting disability was a known risk of the surgery.
- Claimed conditions
- palmer cutaneous neuroma, median neuritis with reflex sympathetic dystrophy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- October 6, 2021
- Citation
- 21062260
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,350 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 21062260.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for additional evidence and an examination to determine if his right hand/wrist disability was caused by the carpal tunnel release surgery or a delay in follow-up treatment.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 was denied because the evidence did not establish that VA medical or educational services were the proximate cause of his additional disability.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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