The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection of his lumbar spine, left and right knee, right ankle, and right foot disabilities as secondary to his service-connected residuals of fracture of the left ankle with traumatic arthritis due to inadequate opinions from VA examiners.
The deciding factor: VA examiners failed to provide clear opinions regarding whether the Veteran's disabilities are caused or aggravated by his service-connected condition without providing a rationale for their conclusions.
- Claimed conditions
- Residuals of fracture of the left ankle with traumatic arthritis, Degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, Degenerative joint disease of the left knee, Degenerative joint disease of the right knee, Degenerative joint disease of the right ankle, Degenerative joint disease of the right foot
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 16, 2018
- Citation
- 18142530
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 18142530.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for degenerative joint disease of the right ankle but granted a separate rating for instability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development to ensure that the severity of the Veteran's bilateral knee disability is accurately assessed without considering the ameliorative effects of medication.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran's death while it was pending.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to obtain and maintain substantially gainful employment, thus granting a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU).
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