The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for various hand injuries due to issues with the competency of a VA examiner and the need for an addendum opinion regarding functional equivalent of ankylosis.
The deciding factor: The decision was remanded because there were concerns about the competence of the VA examiner who provided the addendum examination, and the Veteran raised questions about the reliability of the examiner's findings based on their statements to previous examiners.
- Claimed conditions
- right hand arthritis, right index finger injury, right long finger injury, right ring finger injury, right little finger injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2024
- Citation
- 24032024
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 24032024.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for right hand arthritis but has remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for nocturia due to duty-to-assist errors.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection for right hand arthritis and left hand arthritis have been dismissed.,The Veteran's appeals for a higher rating for lumbar strain, radiculopathy of the left sciatic nerve, and radiculopathy of the right sciatic nerve have been remanded.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal concerning the issues of entitlement to service connection for left hand arthritis, 3rd digit and right hand arthritis has been dismissed due to their death.
- Dismissed
The appeal of the proposed reduction in PTSD rating from 70% to 50%, and for service connection claims related to various joints and diabetes mellitus type II, has been dismissed due to procedural issues. The Veteran withdrew his appeals.
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