The Board found no evidence of a current bilateral ankle disorder and denied the veteran's claim for service connection. The issue of entitlement to an increased evaluation for eczema of the hands was also addressed, but as it had already been granted with a noncompensable rating from February 6, 1999, to August 2, 2000, and a 10 percent rating thereafter, no further action was taken on this issue.
The deciding factor: The VA compensation examinations did not find any current diagnosis of a bilateral ankle disorder. The veteran's complaints were attributed to arthralgia (pain) without evidence of an underlying impairment capable of causing the symptoms.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral ankle disorder, eczema of hands
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 18, 2003
- Citation
- 0320561
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 0320561.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a right knee disability and denied service connection for right shoulder scars. The claims for peripheral neuropathy of the left thumb, a right ankle disorder, and a left ankle disorder were remanded.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for onychomycosis (bilateral toenail fungus) and remanded the claims for GERD, chest pain, and an acquired eye disorder.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for lumbar spine, bilateral knee, hip, shoulder, and ankle disorders as they are not shown to be causally or etiologically related to any disease, injury, or incident during service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for an earlier effective date prior to November 8, 2011, for service connection of a bilateral ankle disorder.
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