The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for a bilateral ankle condition and determined that it is warranted based on evidence showing that his current ankle disability is caused or aggravated by his service-connected pes planus.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided stand in relative equipoise, with one indicating a secondary relationship to service-connected pes planus and the other not finding such a connection. The Board affords greater probative weight to the opinion from the Veteran's private physician who has treated him consistently for his ankle condition.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral ankle condition
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 25, 2017
- Citation
- 1718276
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 1718276.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to inadequate development of evidence, specifically failing to provide a VA examination or medical opinion regarding his claimed bilateral ankle, knee, low back, and left shoulder conditions. The claims are being returned to the AOJ for further action.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's previously denied claim for bilateral ankle condition is dismissed.,New evidence supports the readjudication of claims for service connection for right knee, bilateral foot, and lumbosacral strain conditions.
- Dismissed
The Veteran has withdrawn all pending appeals, including those related to service connection for various conditions and a rating for migraines and erectile dysfunction.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for bilateral knee and ankle conditions, finding that the Veteran's current diagnoses are related to her in-service injuries.
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