The Board denied service connection for arthritis of the bilateral ankles, finding that there was no evidence of arthritis during or within one year after service. The Veteran's flat feet were not shown to be related to his active service.
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence showing arthritis of the ankles during or within a year following service and no link between current ankle condition and service.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis of the bilateral ankles, Flat feet (Pes Planus)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- February 8, 2017
- Citation
- 1703859
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 1703859.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's GERD and OSA are being remanded for further examination to determine their etiology. His arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine, bilateral knees, ankles, and hips is also being remanded due to lack of a VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that a disability rating greater than 50 percent for other specified trauma and stress-related disorder is denied, service connection for arthritis of the bilateral knees, shoulders, hands, hips, elbows, and ankles is granted, and service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted. The issue of service connection for a lumbar spine disorder has been remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional searches for the Veteran's service treatment records and National Guard/National Reserve records are necessary, as well as an attempt to obtain hospitalization records from 1984. The VA examiner who conducted the June 2012 VA ankle examination is requested to provide a medical opinion regarding whether any current bilateral ankle disability including arthritis is related to disease or injury in active service.
- 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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