The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a disability rating higher than 10 percent for right middle finger fracture and a compensable rating for right small finger fracture due to inadequate examination.
The deciding factor: The VA examination provided by the general practitioner was not sufficient, as requested by the Board in its previous remand orders. A new VA examination with an orthopedist is needed to determine the current severity of the Veteran's finger disabilities and their functional loss.
- Claimed conditions
- right middle finger fracture, right small finger fracture
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 24, 2024
- Citation
- 24003630
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,092 · Granted: 42% (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 24003630.
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 denied a compensable rating for the veteran's right small finger fracture and right optic neuropathy, but granted an effective date of August 20, 2021, for a 20 percent disability rating for painful right shoulder scars.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have rendered him unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation, leading to the grant of TDIU.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for residuals of a broken right middle finger has been denied. The issue of service connection for an auditory disorder to include left ear tinnitus is remanded and will be reconsidered once the pending claim is decided.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not prevent him from securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment.
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