The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a compensable rating for residuals of a fracture of the left fifth metacarpal, service connection for a left ankle disability, and service connection for a right foot disability due to additional development being needed.
The deciding factor: Additional medical comment is needed concerning the current severity of the Veteran’s left fifth metacarpal fracture, including in terms of whether the limitation of motion in his left little finger is causing additional limitation of motion in other fingers of this hand. Further development of these claims is needed for new VA examinations and opinions and to obtain relevant ongoing medical records from January 2015 to the present.
- Claimed conditions
- fracture of the left fifth metacarpal, left ankle disability, right foot disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 28, 2019
- Citation
- 19181591
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,669 · Granted: 23% (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 19181591.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has expanded the scope of the claim to include any mental health disorder raised by the record and has remanded for additional development regarding service connection for left leg, ankle, and psychiatric disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for left, right ankle disabilities, left and right hip disabilities, left and right shin splints, and left and right knee disabilities due to inadequate nexus opinions in the VA examination reports. The Veteran contends that her current disabilities are related to injuries sustained during basic training.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for service connection of left knee disability, tension headaches, a left ankle disability, and a back disability due to the Veteran's death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to new evidence received, and a need for additional medical opinions considering the Veteran's military occupation as a water safety survival instructor.
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