The Board granted service connection for rheumatoid arthritis of the hands, feet, and left ankle based on a nexus to in-service injuries.
The deciding factor: The private medical opinion provided by Dr. P.C., MD, was found to be highly probative as it supported the claim with detailed rationale regarding the pathophysiology of post-traumatic rheumatoid arthritis.
- Claimed conditions
- rheumatoid arthritis (RA) of the hands, rheumatoid arthritis of the feet, rheumatoid arthritis of the left ankle
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- May 8, 2025
- Citation
- 25006249
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,035 · Granted: 30% (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 25006249.
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.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal is denied for evaluations in excess of 10 percent for rheumatoid arthritis of the left (minor) elbow, prior to July 24, 2020; and for rheumatoid arthritis of the right (major) elbow, since July 24, 2020. The appeal is also denied for evaluations in excess of 10 percent for rheumatoid arthritis of other joints including left shoulder, wrist, foot, knee, ankle, hip.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for rheumatoid arthritis of multiple joints due to conflicting medical opinions from a VA examiner.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional development is needed for the Veteran's claims of service connection for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as his claim for increased ratings. The case will be returned to the Board after this development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that there was not substantial compliance with the May 2018 remand directives and has ordered additional development to obtain VA treatment records from Allen Park VAMC, Detroit VAMC, Selfridge Air National Guard Base, and any TRICARE records. The Veteran's claim for service connection for rheumatoid arthritis of the knees, ankles, arms, hands, feet, and back is remanded.
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