The Board has denied the Veteran's appeals because he failed to meet the first prong of service connection. The Board will now remand for additional examination and opinion regarding his left knee and right knee disorders.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran did not have a current disability in his right ankle or coccyx, and denied his claims based on this finding. For his low back disorder, he was granted a 10% rating from July 1, 2013 to November 3, 2014, but denied for greater than 10% thereafter.
- Claimed conditions
- Right ankle disorder, Coccyx disorder, Low back disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- October 24, 2018
- Citation
- 18144436
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 18144436.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a low back disorder was reopened, and his claims for increased ratings of bilateral knee instability were granted. His hearing loss claim was denied.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a low back disorder. The claims for bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, bilateral knee disorder, and an acquired psychiatric disorder are remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a low back disorder, finding that the evidence did not show an in-service onset or relationship to service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's right ankle disorder, finding that it was not shown to be related to his active duty service and did not meet the criteria for secondary service connection due to his left ankle disability.
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