The Board has determined that the Veteran's current left shoulder and left hand disabilities are not related to his military service, as there is no evidence of chronic symptoms during or immediately after service. The Board finds the Veteran's assertions regarding in-service injuries are not credible due to inconsistencies with contemporaneous medical records.
The deciding factor: The absence of any documented complaints, treatment, or diagnosis of left shoulder and left hand disabilities during or shortly after service makes it unlikely that these conditions had their onset during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Shoulder Osteoarthritis, Left Hand Osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2024
- Citation
- 24031890
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,990 · Granted: 35% (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 24031890.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's left shoulder disability is not a separate and distinct condition from his service-connected thoracotomy pain syndrome, thus denying a separate rating for this condition.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hypertension, headaches, bilateral cataracts, and left hand osteoarthritis as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by active service.
- Granted
The Veteran's PTSD is rated at 70 percent, effective July 11, 2018. A TDIU is also granted.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for right hip and left shoulder osteoarthritis, finding that the Veteran's symptoms are related to his active duty service.
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