The Board remands the claim for a new examination and opinion to determine if the Veteran's bilateral hand condition is related to service, including presumed exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
The deciding factor: The previous VA examinations did not provide a definitive diagnosis or adequate rationale regarding the etiology of the Veteran's bilateral hand strain.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hand condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 4, 2023
- Citation
- 23000361
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for GERD as secondary to the Veteran's PTSD and tinnitus, but denied service connection for a lumbar spine disability, right ear hearing loss, chronic sinus condition, bilateral hand condition, jaw condition, aortic regurgitation, discoid lupus, residuals of peptic ulcer, left shoulder condition, right shoulder condition, cervical spine disability, left upper extremity (LUE) radiculopathy secondary to cervical spine disability, and right upper extremity (RUE) radiculopathy secondary to cervical spine disability.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims of CUE in the July 6, 2021 rating decision that denied service connection for a bilateral hand condition, a bilateral knee condition, and a low back condition.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and denied initial disability ratings in excess of 30 percent for PTSD, chronic headaches, vertigo, and folliculitis. The Board granted an initial disability rating of 30 percent for vertigo.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various bilateral musculoskeletal conditions and obstructive sleep apnea as they were not related to the Veteran's service or a service-connected disability.
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