The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for bilateral ankle disability, left plantar fasciitis, and pes planus as secondary to his service-connected left knee disability. The remand requires additional medical opinions regarding the etiology of these conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinion provided in the July 2014 rating decision was inadequate because it did not consider the Veteran's lay statements or the documented in-service treatment for ankle pain, and whether the claimed conditions are secondary to service-connected left knee disability. Additionally, there is no opinion on whether any current ankle disability is aggravated by service-connected left knee disability.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral ankle disability, left plantar fasciitis, pes planus
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19160652
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,902 · Granted: 11% (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 19160652.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for a neurological examination to determine if any diagnosed radiculopathy or other neurological disability affecting the lower extremities was caused or aggravated by service-connected conditions.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for bilateral plantar fasciitis, finding that the Veteran's pre-existing pes planus condition was aggravated by service. The effective date is August 15, 2025.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a bilateral ankle disability as secondary to his service-connected bilateral knee and low back disabilities.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral plantar fasciitis with pes planus, finding that her current condition had its onset during active military service.
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