The Board remands the claim for a left finger disability to provide the Veteran and his representative an opportunity to respond to the reevaluation of whether the presumption of soundness applies, and to obtain a more adequate medical opinion.
The deciding factor: The June 2022 VA nexus opinion is found inadequate due to its use of the wrong standard and reliance on the absence of treatment records for a conclusory conclusion. An addendum opinion addressing worsening beyond normal progression and clear and unmistakable evidence of no aggravation is required.
- Claimed conditions
- left finger disability
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 8, 2025
- Citation
- 25008896
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 344 · Granted: 11% (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 25008896.
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 remanded the claims of service connection for left and right finger disabilities, as secondary to service-connected right knee disability. The Veteran's bilateral finger disability is currently on appeal.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a left finger disability, finding that it was not aggravated beyond its natural progression by his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's right breast gynecomastia did not result in significantly disabling impairment of the skin and is therefore denied an initial compensable rating.,There is no evidence of a current right ear hearing loss disability for VA purposes, and thus service connection for this condition is denied.,Service connection for left ear hearing loss is also denied as there was no showing of a relationship between the Veteran's military noise exposure and his current hearing loss.,The Veteran's claimed left finger disability did not have its onset during active service and is therefore not service connected.,Similarly, the right finger disability did not have its onset during active service and is also not service connected.,Lumbosacral strain, left elbow disability, and right elbow disability are all denied as there was no showing of a relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.,Left wrist sprain is also denied as it did not have its onset during active service and is not otherwise etiologically related to such service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right knee, left knee, diabetes, left finger, and acquired psychiatric disorder due to the lack of new and relevant evidence. The claims for sleep apnea and headaches were remanded for further development.
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