The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient medical evidence regarding the relationship between his back and leg disabilities and his service-connected bilateral foot disability. The Veteran will need a new VA examination to determine if these conditions are caused or aggravated by his service-connected foot disabilities.
The deciding factor: The previous opinion lacked an adequate explanation of the potential nexus between the Veteran's current back and leg disabilities and his service-connected bilateral foot disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine (back disability), Left leg disability, Right leg disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19130565
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,316 · Granted: 43% (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 19130565.
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 Veteran's right foot condition, including pain and functional limitation, is related to service. The Veteran's right leg disability did not have an onset in service or manifest within a year of service, nor is it otherwise related to service or a service-connected disability. The Veteran's left leg disability also did not have an onset in service or manifest within a year of service, nor is it otherwise related to service or a service-connected disability.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for his right leg and right ankle disabilities, as well as a compensable rating for his left knee scar, were denied. The Board found that the Veteran failed to cooperate with scheduled VA examinations without providing good cause.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the appellant's claims for service connection are remanded due to a failure to provide adequate VA examinations and opinions, particularly regarding exposure to burn pits and other toxins (BPOTs) during his service in the Persian Gulf.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the VHA decision denying PCAFC benefits was inadequate due to insufficient discussion of relevant medical evidence and remanded for further action.
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