The Board has determined that new VA examinations are required to assess the current severity of the Veteran's service-connected bilateral foot disabilities and related surgical scars due to his testimony indicating increased severity since previous examinations. The AOJ will consider whether separate ratings are warranted for scars of each foot on remand.
The deciding factor: The Veteran testified about increased severity of his service-connected bilateral foot disabilities, post-bunionectomy, which were not addressed in the most recent VA examination reports and treatment records.
- Claimed conditions
- left status post-bunionectomy, right status post-bunionectomy, surgical scars of the left foot, surgical scars of the right foot
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19168272
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 19168272.
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 appeal for a compensable evaluation for surgical scars of the right foot is dismissed. The issue of entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent for right hallux limitus/extensus, status-post bunionectomy, with metatarsalgia and degenerative joint disease of the right first and second metatarsophalangeal joints is remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including migraine headaches and hammer toes of the right foot postoperative repair, preclude her from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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