The Board denied service connection for a bilateral foot disability, finding that the evidence did not support an in-service injury or disease of the feet and no relationship between current rheumatoid arthritis and active service.
The deciding factor: There was no evidence of any in-service injury or diagnosis involving the feet or rheumatoid arthritis, and no competent evidence of a relationship between any current diagnosis and active service.
- Claimed conditions
- rheumatoid arthritis of the feet
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19143440
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,960 · Granted: 36% (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 19143440.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for rheumatoid arthritis of the hands, feet, and left ankle based on a nexus to in-service injuries.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional development is needed for the Veteran's claims of service connection for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as his claim for increased ratings. The case will be returned to the Board after this development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that there was not substantial compliance with the May 2018 remand directives and has ordered additional development to obtain VA treatment records from Allen Park VAMC, Detroit VAMC, Selfridge Air National Guard Base, and any TRICARE records. The Veteran's claim for service connection for rheumatoid arthritis of the knees, ankles, arms, hands, feet, and back is remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) as his service-connected disabilities do not render him unemployable or unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation.
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