The Board has granted service connection for gout affecting multiple joints, including the right and left shoulders, knees, feet, hands, fingers, and toes. The appeal is now REMANDED for further action on two issues: diabetes mellitus, type II, and residuals of a stroke.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided were inadequate to establish service connection for these conditions based on the criteria set forth in the law.
- Claimed conditions
- gout affecting the right shoulder, gout affecting the left shoulder, gout affecting the right knee, gout affecting the left knee, gout affecting the left ankle, gout affecting the right foot, gout affecting the left foot, gout affecting the toes of the right foot, gout affecting the toes of the left foot, gout affecting the right hand, gout affecting the left hand, gout affecting the fingers of the right hand, gout affecting the fingers of the left hand
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 4, 2023
- Citation
- 23000306
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,316 · Granted: 43% (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 23000306.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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