The Veteran's claims for service connection for right and left ankle strains, cervical spine strain, degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine, and bilateral pes planus have been denied as there is no clear and unmistakable evidence that these conditions began during service or are otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence does not support a finding that any of the Veteran's claimed conditions began during service or are otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Pes Planus, Cervical Spine Strain, Degenerative Joint Disease of the Lumbar Spine, Left Ankle Strain, Right Ankle Strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 2, 2019
- Citation
- 19134481
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,797 · Granted: 20% (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 19134481.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for higher ratings on several conditions have been dismissed due to the Veteran withdrawing his appeals.,The Board has not assigned a specific rating or effective date as the claims are being remanded.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for an initial compensable rating for athletes' foot and a greater than 30 percent rating for bilateral pes planus have been dismissed due to untimely VA Form 10182 submissions.,The Veteran's claim of service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome has been remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection for traumatic brain injury is granted, and he is awarded a higher level of SMC based on the need for aid and attendance due to his service-connected PTSD and additional disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to insufficient medical evidence in the file on which to decide these claims. The appellant's VA treatment records contain diagnoses of GAD and OSA, and he reported symptoms related to his disabilities during service. A new examination and opinion are required to determine if the acquired psychiatric disorder is associated with service, as well as for OSA and bilateral pes planus and plantar fasciitis.
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