The Board has determined that additional development is necessary to properly address the Veteran's claims for increased evaluations of his service-connected neck disability, right ankle disability, and deviated septum. The VA examinations conducted in September 2016 are deemed inadequate for these purposes.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations conducted in September 2016 did not adequately assess the frequency and severity of the manifestations of the Veteran's service-connected neck and right ankle disabilities during flare-ups, as required by the Court’s holding in Sharp v. Shulkin (2017).
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease of the Cervical Spine (Service-connected neck disability), Residuals of a Right Ankle Injury, including a Stress Fracture and Degenerative Joint Disease (Service-connected right ankle disability), Deviated Septum
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19179196
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,316 · Granted: 43% (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 19179196.
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
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- Remanded (sent back)
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