The Board has denied service connection for a bilateral ankle disorder and remanded the issue of service connection for a cervical spine disorder due to insufficient evidence in the February 2016 VA examination.
The deciding factor: The February 2016 VA examiner did not provide an adequate rationale for their opinions, particularly regarding secondary service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral ankle disorder, cervical spine disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 7, 2018
- Citation
- 18148226
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 18148226.
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 Board has granted service connection for a cervical spine disorder, finding that the Veteran's current condition is at least as likely as not related to his active military service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that side effects from prescribed medications contributed substantially and materially to his accidental motorcycle collision resulting in fatal injuries.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss disorder, gout, multiple painful joints, bilateral ankle disorder, bilateral knee disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, shin splints of the right and left lower extremities, multiple sclerosis (MS), thoracolumbar spine disorder, cervical spine disorder, left elbow disorder, left knee disorder, migraine headaches, and right knee disorder are dismissed.
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