The Board is remanding the claims to the RO for further development, including a new VA examination and consideration of whether there is new and material evidence to reopen the claim for service connection for a bilateral foot condition. The remaining claims for service connection for back and leg conditions are also being deferred pending proper development.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that the initial determination of whether there is new and material evidence affects its jurisdiction to adjudicate the underlying merits of the claim, and thus requires remand to first consider this preliminary issue before proceeding with the claims on their merits.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Foot Condition, Back Condition, Leg Condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 12, 2011
- Citation
- 1118248
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 1118248.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The August 1996 rating decision denied service connection for a back condition due to the claim being considered not well-grounded, as there was no current disability and no evidence of in-service injury or disease.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error in the VA examination for service connection of the back condition and requires an addendum opinion to address whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's back disability began in service or was caused by any incident of service.
- Granted
The Board has granted effective dates of August 12, 2024 for the awards of a 50% rating for sinusitis and a 40% rating for intervertebral disc syndrome of the lumbar spine. Service connection for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve was also granted effective on that date.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a lack of adequate medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's pre-existing pes planus was aggravated by service.
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