The Board found that there is no current disability of the right ankle and denied service connection for a broken right ankle. The claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder was not addressed due to the overlap with PTSD, but the Veteran's complete service personnel file should be obtained and he should undergo a VA examination to determine if his claimed psychiatric condition is related to military service.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence does not show a current disability of the right ankle. The Board found that there was no nexus between the Veteran's in-service injury and any current disorder, as there were no complaints or diagnoses associated with the right ankle post-service. For the psychiatric claim, the Board determined that obtaining the complete service personnel file and conducting an examination would be necessary to determine if the condition is related to military service.
- Claimed conditions
- broken right ankle, acquired psychiatric disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 6, 2010
- Citation
- 1016900
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 1016900.
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.
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The Board remands the claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder to correct a duty to assist error, requiring further examination and review of private treatment records.
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The Board remands the claims for service connection due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, as it is unclear whether the Veteran's claimed conditions are due to any incident of his period of active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied an earlier effective date for the Veteran's award of service-connected compensation for headaches and remanded claims for increased rating, service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability, right shoulder disability, and acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including herniation and bulging disk L4 through S1, knee pain with osteoarthritis, an acquired psychiatric disorder, cubital tunnel syndrome, carpal tunnel syndrome, and neuropathy. However, the Board granted a 30 percent evaluation for chronic headaches.
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