Ankle decisions — 2025

The Board remands the claim for a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for the left ankle deltoid ligament sprain to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.

The appeal for service connection for treatment purposes only for tinnitus, bilateral hearing loss, and left ankle disability with Achilles tendonitis was granted prior to the decision, thus these claims are dismissed as they no longer remain in appellate status.

The Board granted effective dates of October 14, 2022, for the assignment of separate and increased ratings for various service-connected conditions.

The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeals for service connection for various conditions due to untimely filing of a Notice of Disagreement.

The Board denied service connection for right ear hearing loss and sinusitis, or other non-specific respiratory disability. It granted a 20 percent rating for the Veteran's status-post left ankle fracture with Achilles calcaneal enthesitis.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for allergies, left arm pain, right arm pain, and right ankle pain due to a lack of evidence supporting the existence of current disabilities.

The Board denied service connection for both the left and right ankle conditions as there was no evidence of a chronic condition in service, no evidence of a relationship to an in-service injury or disease, and no credible medical nexus opinion linking the current conditions to service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for right ankle sprain and various knee conditions, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating under applicable criteria.

The Board remands the issues of entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability, a right ankle disability and a right knee disability due to insufficient evidence regarding the aggravation of pre-existing conditions.

The Board granted service connection for a bilateral knee disorder, to include osteoarthritis and degenerative arthritis; a bilateral ankle disorder, to include tendinitis; and a bilateral foot disorder, to include neuralgia and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (PN), as these conditions were found to be caused or worsened by the Veteran's service-connected reactive arthritis.

The Board remands the matter to obtain further development, including a medical opinion addressing whether the Veteran's perceived left ankle instability and rolling are directly due and related to his service-connected left foot disability.

The appeal is dismissed due to the Veteran's death during the pendency of the appeal.

The appeal for service connection for various conditions was dismissed as there was no decision in the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA) system to appeal at the time of the request.

The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include persistent depressive disorder with anxious distress, and erectile dysfunction as secondary to the service-connected persistent depressive disorder. SMC was also granted based on loss of use of a creative organ.

The Board remands the claims for a back disorder, bilateral foot disorder, left ankle disorder, left eye disorder, and left hip disorder for further development of evidence.

The Board granted earlier effective dates for the awards of service connection for certain disabilities associated with a back disability.

The Board denied an earlier effective date for the temporary total evaluation for the Veteran's foot disability and remanded issues related to service connection for left and right ankle strains.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for a right ankle disability, right wrist disability, and psychiatric disability to afford the Veteran VA examinations.

The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating for his service-connected right ankle degenerative arthritis was dismissed due to the untimeliness of his notice of disagreement.

The Board denied service connection for nerve conditions of the extremities, a neck condition, a right ankle condition, and right ear hearing loss as there was no evidence of current disability or nexus to service.