The Board has denied service connection for right and left ankle injuries with residuals, finding no evidence of such conditions in service or within one year post-service. The cause of death claim is also remanded due to the need for an addendum opinion regarding a heart condition.
The deciding factor: There is insufficient medical evidence linking the Veteran's current ankle conditions to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Right ankle injury with residuals, Left ankle injury with residuals
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19164161
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,762 · Granted: 24% (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 19164161.
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
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- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD is granted as the evidence shows a current diagnosis of PTSD, an in-service stressor, and a medical link between the two.
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