The Board has determined that the Veteran's heel spurs, knee conditions, and sleep disorder may have begun during service. However, due to insufficient rationale in the VA examiner's opinions, additional medical opinions are needed to address this issue.
The deciding factor: VA examiners did not adequately consider the Veteran’s reported symptoms and treatment records from active duty that suggest an onset of his heel spurs, knee conditions, and sleep disorder during service.
- Claimed conditions
- left foot heel spur, right foot heel spur, left knee condition (degenerative joint disease), right knee condition (degenerative joint disease), sleep disorder (obstructive sleep apnea)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19146154
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 19146154.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of a left foot heel spur was dismissed due to his death during the pendency of the appeal.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeal for an earlier effective date and denied a rating in excess of 10 percent for left great toe hallux valgus as there was no legal basis to consider these issues.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for an earlier effective date for service connection and special monthly compensation based on housebound criteria, as there was no legal basis to support an earlier effective date.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issues of entitlement to a compensable rating for left and right foot heel spurs, and an initial compensable disability rating for GERD and hiatal hernia due to inadequate VA examinations.
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