The Board denied the Veteran's petition to reopen his service connection claim for residuals of a back condition and found that new evidence did not raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim. The Board also denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of a right ankle sprain, finding no medical evidence linking the current disability to service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that the Veteran's current back condition is less likely than not related to his military service and found no arthritis in his right ankle. The Board agreed with this opinion as it was based on a review of the service treatment records which were silent for any right ankle conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of a back condition, residuals of a right ankle sprain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 26, 2017
- Citation
- 1748335
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 1748335.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection and increased evaluation of various conditions due to a request for information regarding the competence of the VA examiners who provided expert medical opinions.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran's passing while it was pending.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for various service-connected conditions, including knee pain, back pain, and anxiety disorder.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection of lower back strain, broken right hand residuals, and right ankle sprain residuals were denied as the Veteran failed to report for scheduled VA examinations without good cause.
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