The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral hammertoes were not incurred or aggravated during service and are unrelated to his military service. The claim for service connection is therefore denied.
The deciding factor: There was no evidence of hammertoes being diagnosed or treated on service treatment records, and the VA examiner found that hammertoes were less likely caused by service in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hammertoes
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19195083
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,480 · Granted: 26% (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 19195083.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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The Veteran's death was not caused by or related to his service-connected disabilities. The appellant is denied DIC benefits, survivors pension benefits, and accrued benefits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted an initial disability rating of 10 percent for right foot hallux valgus and extended a temporary total rating for left foot hallux valgus. The issues of service connection for metatarsalgia, bilateral heel spurs, fusion of the bilateral fifth toes, and bilateral hammertoes are remanded for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence. The Veteran needs to be examined to determine if his current foot disability and acquired psychiatric disorder are related to his military service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, bilateral hammertoes, calluses of the feet, and degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine and cervical spine due to a fall during VA medical treatment. The right shoulder disorder is also granted as a result of the same incident.
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