The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral ankle sprains and remanded it for further development.
The deciding factor: New evidence received since the April 1999 rating decision relates to an unestablished fact (the presence of a current disability) and raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim for service connection for bilateral ankle sprains.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral ankle sprains
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 8, 2009
- Citation
- 0946444
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 0946444.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including back disorder, bilateral lumbar radiculopathy of the lower extremity sciatic nerves, tinnitus, and GERD, have rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation. The Board has granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU).
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to his service-connected disabilities, finding that he was not unable to secure and follow substantially gainful employment during the appellate period.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim to reopen the finally disallowed bilateral ankle/lower leg condition is granted. The issue of service connection for a bilateral ankle/lower leg condition, which was previously denied due to lack of evidence linking it to service or service-connected pes planus, is remanded and reopened based on new evidence showing that his current ankle/lower leg conditions may be aggravated by his service-connected bilateral foot disability.
- Denied
The Board finds that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities are severe enough to warrant Category I status for self-employment, but the evidence does not show that all traditional employment goals other than self-employment are unsuitable due to his disabilities. Therefore, the appeal is denied.
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