38 CFR § 4.63
Loss of use of hand or foot
Comes up when VA decides whether a severely impaired but not amputated hand or foot qualifies for special monthly compensation as if it were lost.
How the Board actually uses this section
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Read the 4,283 decisions citing § 4.63
The conditions it decides
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What this regulation says, in plain English
This section defines loss of use of a hand or foot, for special monthly compensation purposes, as having no more effective function left than an amputation and prosthesis at the elbow or knee would provide. It also names specific conditions, extremely unfavorable knee ankylosis, ankylosis of two major joints in one limb, a leg shortened by 3 and a half inches or more, or complete common peroneal nerve paralysis with footdrop, that automatically count as loss of use.
Read the full text of 38 CFR § 4.63
This text was last amended by VA on December 14, 2016. We check it against eCFR every week.
Loss of use of a hand or a foot, for the purpose of special monthly compensation, will be held to exist when no effective function remains other than that which would be equally well served by an amputation stump at the site of election below elbow or knee with use of a suitable prosthetic appliance. The determination will be made on the basis of the actual remaining function of the hand or foot, whether the acts of grasping, manipulation, etc., in the case of the hand, or of balance and propulsion, etc., in the case of the foot, could be accomplished equally well by an amputation stump with prosthesis.
(a) Extremely unfavorable complete ankylosis of the knee, or complete ankylosis of 2 major joints of an extremity, or shortening of the lower extremity of 3 1/2 inches (8.9 cms.) or more, will be taken as loss of use of the hand or foot involved. #
(b) Complete paralysis of the external popliteal nerve (common peroneal) and consequent, footdrop, accompanied by characteristic organic changes including trophic and circulatory disturbances and other concomitants confirmatory of complete paralysis of this nerve, will be taken as loss of use of the foot. #
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