The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for various upper extremity disabilities, including wrist, forearm, humerus, elbow, and shoulder conditions, all of which are deemed secondary to his service-connected right thumb disability. The evidence does not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by service.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided do not establish a direct link between the Veteran's upper extremity disabilities and his service or service-connected condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Right wrist degenerative arthritis, Right ulnar neuropathy, Right median neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2021
- Citation
- 21069807
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 21069807.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded the appeal for further development, including obtaining an adequate medical opinion on the nature and etiology of the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder and ulnar neuropathy.
- Partly granted
The Board denied entitlement to increased ratings for a back disability and radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, but granted a 20 percent rating from October 11, 2023, for the back disability.
- 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.
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