The Board has determined that the evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's bilateral hammer toe disability is due to his service-connected flat feet, and thus service connection for the Veteran's bilateral hammer toe disability is granted.
The deciding factor: Service connection was established based on direct service connection rather than secondary or aggravation of a pre-existing condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hammer toes
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 25, 2016
- Citation
- 1616382
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 1616382.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board allowed the benefit or issue identified in this decision. Review the original order: other issues in the same appeal may have a different outcome, and this decision does not predict another claim.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for degenerative changes in the neck and right upper extremity radiculopathy, but granted a 30 percent disability rating for bilateral pes cavus from August 2, 2012 to June 7, 2024.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found that the Veteran does not have current diagnoses of arthritis or frostbite residuals of the feet. The examiner determined that the Veteran has bilateral hammer toes, but did not find any evidence of arthritis or frostbite residuals.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's current bilateral hammer toes disability did not have its onset in service and is not etiologically related to service. The claim for a temporary total rating based on convalescence due to surgery for hammer toes was also denied.
- Whole decision: 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.
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