The Veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of a head injury, to include headaches, was denied as new and relevant evidence was not received. The claims for pes planus of the left foot and right foot were remanded due to insufficient medical opinion.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner provided an inadequate opinion based solely on the absence of medical evidence without considering the Veteran's lay statements about his injury during service.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of a head injury with headaches, pes planus of the left foot, pes planus of the right foot
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 22, 2019
- Citation
- A19003070
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,446 · Granted: 21% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A19003070.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's lumbar spine disability is rated at 20 percent, and the Board finds that a higher rating is warranted due to incomplete medical examination.,The VA examiner concluded that the cervical spine disability was less likely than not proximately due to or the result of his service-connected lumbar spine disability. The Board finds this opinion inadequate as it did not address whether the Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine is a congenital defect and if so, whether there was aggravation during service.,The VA examiner noted that the Veteran's pes planus is a congenital condition and concluded that it is an incidental finding with no symptoms related to his service. The Board finds this opinion inadequate as it did not address whether the pes planus is a congenital defect or disease, nor if there was aggravation during service.,The Veteran seeks service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, obesity, and CKD. No specific issues are listed regarding these conditions in the decision summary.,The Veteran's hypertension is not addressed in the decision summary.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for pseudofolliculitis barbae, a bilateral hearing loss disability, and pes planus of both feet. The lumbar spine claim was remanded.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 30 percent rating for left foot traumatic arthritis prior to June 27, 2023, and denied an increased rating in excess of 30 percent. The claim for TDIU was also denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for pes planus of the left foot, as there was no evidence of permanent worsening during service. The claims for a top of the foot disability and a left hip disability were remanded.
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