The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for various foot disabilities, upper back disability, left knee and ankle disabilities as secondary to bilateral foot disabilities due to inadequate examination findings.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's report was found to be insufficient for adjudication purposes, particularly regarding the Veteran’s lay contentions and prior medical history.
- Claimed conditions
- hammer toe, hallux valgus, osteopenia, heel spur, metatarsus adductus, arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 12, 2018
- Citation
- 18142037
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 18142037.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Partly granted
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The Board granted an initial 40 percent disability rating for bilateral eye disabilities but denied ratings for abdominal scars, hypertension, and remanded claims related to thrombosis and arthritis.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for several conditions, including OSA, cervical spine condition, left shoulder condition, right shoulder condition, and others, but dismissed appeals for obesity, TMJ, insomnia, left elbow, and right elbow. The Board also denied an earlier effective date for a 70% rating for acquired psychiatric disorder.
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