The Board found that the Veteran's right foot disability did not clearly and unmistakably exist prior to active service, but was unable to determine if it is related to his military service due to lack of documentation. As such, the claim for service connection for a right foot disorder is denied.
The deciding factor: The April 2013 VA examiner could not provide an opinion without resorting to mere speculation as there was no documented in-service injury and no prior examination or treatment records were available.
- Claimed conditions
- malunion/nonunion of the tarsal/metatarsal bones, foot fracture, degenerative or traumatic arthritis of the right foot
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 3, 2015
- Citation
- 1532952
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 1532952.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's left foot disability, diagnosed as a foot injury and malunion/nonunion of the tarsal/metatarsal bones, is related to an in-service injury during her period of active duty for training (ACDUTRA). The Board granted service connection for this condition.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including frostbite of the hands and feet, hypertension, a right shoulder disability, a back disability, bilateral knee disabilities, pes planus, residuals of a foot fracture, tailbone disability, diabetes mellitus, and glaucoma. The decision was based on the conclusion that new and material evidence had not been received to reopen the claim for frostbite of the hands and feet, and that these conditions were not incurred in service or due to any other service-connected condition.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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