The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased disability ratings for bilateral flat feet with plantar fasciitis, plantar spurs, and arthritis of the first MTP joint, right hip osteoarthritis, and impairment of the thigh, right. The AOJ is instructed to obtain relevant VA treatment records, vocational rehabilitation records, and employment information from the Veteran. A new VA examination for her bilateral foot disabilities is also required.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that additional development is needed to ensure all pertinent evidence has been considered in adjudicating the Veteran's claims.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral flat feet with plantar fasciitis, plantar spurs, arthritis of the first metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19100521
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter of entitlement to service connection for bilateral flat feet with plantar fasciitis due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, requiring an addendum medical opinion.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for fatigue, chronic headaches, great toenail and toe injury, left foot, and bilateral flat feet with plantar fasciitis after finding new evidence that raised a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claims. Service connection was also granted for lupus, fibromyalgia, vertigo, photophobia, dyspnea, fatigue, Sjogren's syndrome, headache disability (secondary to lupus and fibromyalgia), and an initial effective date of July 29, 2014, for right knee tendonitis with stress fracture of the tibia.
- Dismissed
The Veteran has withdrawn his appeal in its entirety, and the Board finds that the requirements for a proper withdrawal have been satisfied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board granted a 50 percent disability rating for bilateral flat feet with plantar fasciitis effective March 14, 2014, but no earlier. The issue of an earlier effective date was remanded.
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