The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a right ankle disability or left ankle disability that is etiologically related to service. The claim for higher evaluation of gastroesophageal reflux disease was also denied.
The deciding factor: The VA examination did not find any current diagnoses of right and left ankle disabilities, and the Veteran's self-diagnosis lacks probative value as specific diagnoses require clinical findings evaluated by a person with specialized knowledge or experience. The Veteran's symptoms alone are insufficient to establish service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease.
- Claimed conditions
- Right ankle disability, Left ankle disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 3, 2014
- Citation
- 1444050
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 1444050.
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 claim for an earlier effective date of January 10, 1997, for a 10% disability rating for his right ankle disability is denied as there was no CUE in the previous decisions.
- Granted
The Board has granted the appellant's claim for service connection for left ankle disability residuals, finding that his current condition is due to an in-service injury and granting the benefit of the doubt.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's right ankle disability is related to his service. The VA examiner must provide an opinion on this matter.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims for service connection have been dismissed due to their death.
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