The Veteran's claim for service connection for a right ankle disability has been denied as there is no evidence of an in-service injury or disease, and the condition does not meet the criteria for direct service connection.,Service connection for right lower extremity sciatica prior to March 14, 2016, has also been denied. The Veteran's claim was remanded multiple times but did not provide sufficient evidence of a pre-existing condition or an in-service injury that led to his current symptoms.
The deciding factor: The Board found no objective medical evidence supporting the Veteran’s claims for service connection and noted that there is no credible evidence linking any right ankle disability to his military service. The Board also determined that the Veteran's right lower extremity sciatica did not meet the criteria for effective date prior to March 14, 2016.
- Claimed conditions
- Right ankle disability, Right lower extremity sciatica
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19109563
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,188 · Granted: 23% (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 19109563.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of January 10, 1997, for a 10% disability rating for his right ankle disability is denied as there was no CUE in the previous decisions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's right ankle disability is related to his service. The VA examiner must provide an opinion on this matter.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has dismissed the appeals to reduce disability ratings for bilateral hearing loss and right ankle disabilities. The case is REMANDED for a VA examination regarding the service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD.
- Granted
The Veteran's right ankle disability is granted a 20 percent rating, but no higher. The claim for a compensable rating for Pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB) is denied.
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