The Board has determined that the veteran's current bilateral foot disorders are not related to his service, specifically the cellulitis he had in service. Therefore, service connection for bilateral foot fungus is denied.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no evidence of fungal infections during the veteran's service and concluded that the current foot conditions were not related to the cellulitis he experienced while on active duty.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral foot fungus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 2, 2004
- Citation
- 0402886
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 673 · Granted: 27% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0402886.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection have been denied. The rating in excess of 10 percent for tinnitus is denied, as the evidence does not support a higher rating under the applicable criteria. The claim for a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss is also denied due to lack of evidence supporting a higher rating based on audiometric results. Service connection for hypertension and bilateral foot fungus are granted with effective dates from May 19, 2020, to August 9, 2022, respectively. The Veteran's claims for service connection regarding left knee pain (status post arthroscopy), right knee pain (status post arthroscopy), low back disability (degenerative arthritis of the spine), left shoulder pain, and right shoulder pain are all granted with effective dates from August 10, 2022. The Veteran's claims for service connection regarding left leg shooting pain and radiculopathy secondary to low back disability and right leg shooting pain and radiculopathy secondary to low back disability remain pending.
- Dismissed
The appeals for service connection for allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, and bilateral foot fungus, as well as the appeals for SMC pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 1114(r) and an increased rating for GERD were dismissed due to being already pending at the Board in other appeal streams.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the claims for service connection for bilateral foot fungus and renal cell carcinoma as they were already granted by a previous rating decision. The claim for a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss was denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 30 percent disability rating for migraine headaches but denied service connection and initial compensable ratings for other conditions.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.