The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for low back disability, foot disability (bilateral plantar fasciitis), and left hand disability (claimed as loss of motor skills) due to insufficient evidence regarding their etiology. The Veteran must be provided with a VA examination to address his service connection claims.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the current medical opinions were inadequate in addressing the Veteran's assertions about the nature of his disabilities and their relationship to service, particularly physical training during his Reserve service.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back disability (degenerative arthritis of the spine), Foot disability (bilateral plantar fasciitis), Left hand disability (loss of motor skills)
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19171151
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 19171151.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, foot disability (bilateral plantar fasciitis), and back disability (claimed as pain of lumbar spine, to include as secondary to bilateral plantar fasciitis) due to a lack of evidence supporting the claims.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's right shoulder disability and migraines/chronic headaches are remanded for additional development due to insufficient opinions on the etiology of her conditions.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's lumbar spine arthritis is aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Granted
The Veteran's PTSD is granted as service connected due to his fear of hostile military activity during his Vietnam service.
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