Citation Nr: 20002779 Decision Date: 01/13/20 Archive Date: 01/13/20 DOCKET NO. 19-00 594A DATE: January 13, 2020 ORDER New and material evidence having been received, the petition to reopen the claim of service connection for a right hand disability, to include residuals of injury to right middle finger, is granted. REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a right hand disability, to include residuals of injury to right middle finger, is remanded. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. A January 2003 rating decision denied entitlement to service connection for residuals of injury to the right middle finger; the Veteran did not perfect an appeal, and the decision became final. 2. The evidence associated with the claims file following the January 2003 denial is new and material evidence, and the claim is thus reopened. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The January 2003 rating decision is final. 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 3.160. 2. New and material evidence has been received to reopen a claim for service connection for a right hand disability, to include residuals of injury to right middle finger. 38 U.S.C. § 5108; 38 C.F.R. § 3.156. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served active duty from August 1973 until August 1976, as well as various periods of active duty for training (ACTDUTRA) and inactive duty for training (INACTDUTRA) from August 1986 until August 2013. In January 2003, a rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regional office (RO) denied the Veteran’s claim for service connection for residuals of injury to right middle finger. The Veteran did not appeal, and the January 2003 decision became final. In a July 2018 rating decision, the RO denied the Veteran’s claim for entitlement to service connection for a right hand condition, to include residuals of injury to right middle finger. The Veteran timely appeals and these matters are now before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board). Preliminarily, the Board notes that when a Veteran makes a claim for a disability, he is seeking service connection for symptoms regardless of how those symptoms are diagnosed or labeled. See Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1 (2009). Therefore, the Board has recharacterized the issue into a claim for any right hand disability, to include residuals of injury to right middle finger. See id. New and Material Evidence VA may reopen and review a claim that has been previously denied if new and material evidence is submitted. 38 U.S.C. § 5108; 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(a). New evidence is evidence not previously submitted to agency decision makers. Material evidence is evidence that, by itself or when considered with previous evidence of record, relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim. New and material evidence can be neither cumulative nor redundant of the evidence of record at the time of the last final denial of the claim sought to be reopened and must raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim. 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(a). The Board must review all evidence submitted by or on behalf of a claimant since the last final denial on any basis to determine whether a claim must be reopened. Evans v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 273 (1996). New and material evidence is not required as to each previously unproven element of a claim. Shade v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 110 (2010). The Board finds that new and material evidence regarding the Veteran’s claimed right hand disability, to include residuals of injury to right middle finger, has been received since the January 2003 denial, to include a January 2019 lay statement in which the Veteran describes his right hand problem as “chronic” since his time in service and that it “does not get better.” This new evidence relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim. Accordingly, the Board finds that the threshold for reopening the claim has been met, and the claim for service connection for right hand disability, to include residuals of injury to right middle finger, is reopened REASONS FOR REMAND 1. Entitlement to service connection for a right hand disability, to include residuals of injury to right middle finger, is remanded. The Veteran has not been afforded a VA examination. VA’s duty to assist includes providing a medical examination and obtaining an opinion when it is necessary to make a decision on a claim. 38 U.S.C. § 5103A(d); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159. Such development is necessary if the information and evidence of record does not contain sufficient competent medical evidence to decide the claim, but (1) contains competent evidence of a diagnosed disability or symptoms of disability, (2) establishes that the Veteran suffered an event, injury or disease in service, or has a presumptive disease during the pertinent presumptive period, and (3) indicates that the claimed disability may be associated with the in-service event, injury, or disease, or with another service-connected disability. 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(4); McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79, 83-86 (2006). The threshold for finding a link between a current disability and service so as to require medical examination is low. Locklear v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 410 (2006). Here, the Veteran’s lay statements indicate that his right hand has been bothering him since his time in service. Specifically, the Board references the Veteran’s January 2019 statement in which he describes his right hand disability as “chronic” and further stating that it “does not get better.” Furthermore, and although this information was before the RO at the time of the January 2003 rating decision, the Board notes that an April 2000 private treatment record indicates that the Veteran suffered a chip fracture to his right middle finger. With regard to an in-service event, the Veteran’s military personnel file includes a March 2000 ground mishap report and a May 2000 line of duty determination that reveals that he caught his right middle finger between a support stand and the frame of a 60K aircraft loader. The Veteran has not yet had a VA examination to determine whether his self-described right hand disability, to include residuals of injury to right middle finger, is related to his military service. As the Veteran’s military personnel record indicates that he suffered an injury in the line of duty to his right middle finger and was diagnosed with a chip fracture to his right middle finger at the same time, and because the Veteran’s statements indicate that his right middle finger injury has continued since service, a remand is required to obtain a VA examination and opinion addressing the nature and etiology of the Veteran’s claimed right hand disability, to include residuals of injury to right middle finger. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of his right hand disability, to include residuals of injury to his right middle finger. The claims folder must be reviewed in conjunction with the examination. The examiner must provide a well-reasoned opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not that any currently diagnosed right hand disability, to include residuals of injury to right middle finger, began in service, within one year of service separation, or is otherwise etiologically related to the Veteran’s period of military service. A full and complete rationale for all opinions is required. If the examiner cannot provide the requested opinions without resorting to speculation, he or she should expressly indicate this and provide supporting rationale as to why the opinions cannot be made without resorting to speculation. Caroline B. Fleming Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Finelli, Associate Counsel The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential, and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.