The Board has denied service connection for various orthopedic disabilities, including wrist, hand, finger, knee, and lumbar spine conditions, based on a lack of evidence linking these conditions to the Veteran's military service.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinions found that there was no medical record to confirm chronicity of the diagnosed conditions and that there were no in-service right knee injuries. The Board also noted the inconsistency between the Veteran's reports of symptoms and the contemporaneous medical evidence, which did not reflect complaints of joint pain during service.
- Claimed conditions
- right wrist disability, left wrist disability, right hand disability, left hand disability, disability of the right fingers, disability of the left fingers, right knee disability, left knee disability, lumbar spine disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 13, 2026
- Citation
- A26033745
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 A26033745.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess his bilateral knee and hip disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board has not made a final determination on the claims of service connection for inguinal hernia, PTSD, joint pain, fibromyalgia, left knee disability, right knee disability, tinnitus, chronic fatigue syndrome, respiratory disability, sleep disorder, IBS, and headaches. The claims are remanded to obtain additional evidence and determine if these conditions are related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient rationale in the July 2012 VA examination for the Veteran's left knee disability, and a new addendum opinion is needed.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability.
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