The Board denied service connection for bilateral tarsal tunnel syndrome as it is not caused or aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected back disability.
The deciding factor: The evidence indicates that the claimed symptoms are not related to any nerve entrapment or condition resulting from the Veteran’s service-connected back disability and instead are accounted for by unrelated bilateral tarsal tunnel syndrome (a compression of the nerve in the ankle or foot).
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral tarsal tunnel syndrome
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19181429
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 882 · Granted: 17% (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 19181429.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for TDIU due to a need for further development of evidence, including VA treatment records and completion of necessary forms.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's bilateral tarsal tunnel syndrome is caused or aggravated by his service-connected lumbar spinal stenosis.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral tarsal tunnel syndrome, finding that there was no current diagnosis of this condition and concluding that her lay statements were not probative.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's hypertension is not rated higher than noncompensable.,Her bilateral tarsal tunnel syndrome, status-post surgery with release, does not warrant a rating in excess of 10 percent.,Her left tarsal tunnel syndrome also does not meet the criteria for a higher rating.,The Veteran's eligibility for financial assistance for an automobile or adaptive equipment is denied.,The issue regarding loss of use of the right foot has been referred to the RO.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.