The Veteran is seeking service connection for left ankle and knee disorders, which he contends are related to his in-service injuries. The Board has determined that the VA examinations and opinions were inadequate due to a lack of evidence and remanded the case for further development.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners failed to consider the Veteran's STRs and relevant lay evidence, and partially based their opinions on the absence of evidence.
- Claimed conditions
- Left ankle disorder, Left knee disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19193626
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,062 · Granted: 34% (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 19193626.
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 remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence and need for further examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases of service connection for left and right knee disorders due to procedural errors. The Veteran's claims are not yet decided.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the Veteran's right and left knee disorders may have existed prior to service, but further examination is needed to determine if they were aggravated by an in-service injury.
- Granted
The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, left ankle disorder, and right ankle fracture are all granted service connection. The right ankle fracture is remanded for a higher disability rating.
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