The Board is remanding the case to obtain an examination and medical opinion regarding whether additional disability following the Veteran's December 1996 bilateral bunionectomies may be attributed to carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment or similar instance of fault by VA during the surgical treatment. The examiner will also assess if such additional disability was not a reasonably foreseeable outcome.
The deciding factor: The Board needs to obtain an examination and medical opinion regarding informed consent for the December 1996 bilateral bunionectomies, including whether a reasonable health care provider would have disclosed permanent or long-term additional disability risks.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral bunionectomies
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 2, 2017
- Citation
- 1730831
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 1730831.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for dementia, vertigo (lightheadedness/dizziness), migraines, and abdominal scar. The Veteran's gastrointestinal disorder, bilateral bunionectomies, gout, hypothyroidism, heart disease, hypertension, left hand arthritis, right knee arthritis, left knee arthritis, and lumbar spine disability are denied as not related to service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus, arthritis of the hands, hypothyroidism, and bilateral bunionectomies. The conditions were not present in service or within one year of separation, and there was no evidence linking these conditions to 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.
- 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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