The Board has determined that the Veteran's arthritis of the bilateral hands is not linked to disease or injury incurred in service and has not been caused by his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities. Therefore, service connection for this condition is denied.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of evidence shows that the Veteran's hand arthritis is not due to a prior injury and does not result from falls caused by his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the bilateral hands
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 25, 2021
- Citation
- 21065177
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 21065177.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for arthritis of the bilateral hands, left shoulder disability, and right shoulder disability as there was no evidence to support a current disability or a relationship to service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right knee osteoarthritis, finding it was aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected muscle spasm disorder due to meningitis. The issue of entitlement to service connection for arthritis of the bilateral hands is remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for increased ratings and earlier effective dates for various joint conditions, cervical spine arthritis, lumbosacral spine arthritis, and radiculopathy of the upper extremities to obtain additional medical opinions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for various joint disabilities prior to September 27, 2002 due to a need for further development and medical opinions.
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