The Veteran's claims for service connection for left and right ankle gout, as well as his claim for an increased rating for unspecified depressive disorder were all denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a finding of service connection or entitlement to higher ratings.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that the Veteran’s gout is not associated with any in-service injury or related medication, and thus cannot be considered secondary to his service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Left ankle gout, Right ankle gout
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 15, 2018
- Citation
- 18111385
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 18111385.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a compensable disability rating for hearing loss was dismissed.,Service connection for sleep apnea, left ankle gout, right ankle gout, left foot gout, and right foot gout were granted as secondary to hypertension.,Service connection for degenerative arthritis of the spine was granted as secondary to residual fracture of the left ankle and bilateral knee degenerative arthritis.
- Partly granted
The Board has denied service connection for right knee gout and left knee gout, but has remanded the claims for right ankle gout, left ankle gout, right foot gout, and left foot gout. The Veteran's current diagnoses of bilateral ankle and bilateral foot gout are related to his patellofemoral pain syndrome.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issues of entitlement to SMC at the housebound rate, right and left knee disabilities for extraschedular consideration. The Veteran's service-connected conditions include major depressive disorder, cervical spine disability, total knee replacements on both knees, gout in multiple joints, and other musculoskeletal conditions.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for left and right ankle gout, left and right hand gout, and vision loss were denied as there is no evidence of a current disability related to his active service.
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