The Veteran's cervical spine degenerative arthritis is granted. The left ankle, lumbar spine, and foot disabilities are remanded for further evaluation.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the Veteran’s current diagnoses of left ankle, lumbar spine, and foot disorders did not have their onset during service or were otherwise related to her service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical spine degenerative arthritis, Left ankle disorder, Lumbar spine degenerative arthritis, Right foot disorder (pes planus, heel spur, plantar fasciitis), Left foot disorder (pes planus, heel spur, plantar fasciitis)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 28, 2019
- Citation
- 19106642
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,987 · Granted: 15% (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 19106642.
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.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a fungal infection of the feet, cervical spine degenerative arthritis, and psychiatric condition due to lack of evidence showing these conditions were incurred or aggravated by service.
- Granted
The Veteran's right upper extremity radiculopathy is granted a 40 percent rating, and the left upper extremity radiculopathy is granted a 30 percent rating. The cervical spine degenerative arthritis does not meet the criteria for a higher than 20 percent rating.
- Granted
The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, left ankle disorder, and right ankle fracture are all granted service connection. The right ankle fracture is remanded for a higher disability rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection have been denied. The cervical spine disability is rated as 20 percent prior to May 31, 2024 and 30 percent on and after that date.,PTSD is rated at 50 percent.
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