The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for right and left ankle disabilities, as well as right and left foot disabilities due to lack of a medical opinion addressing the onset of symptoms in service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not address the Veteran’s contentions regarding the onset of his ankle and foot conditions during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Right ankle disability, Left ankle disability, Right foot disability, Left foot disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19197089
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 19197089.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including diabetes mellitus, type II, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, hypertension, asthma/lung disease, vision disability, bilateral plantar fasciitis, leukocytosis, kidney disease/kidney stones, enlarged prostate, sleep apnea, rheumatoid arthritis, lumbar spine disability, right ankle disability, and left ankle disability.
- Denied
The appeal for an increased rating for the acquired psychiatric disorder and other disabilities was denied, with no increase in the assigned ratings.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the claims for service connection for various disabilities, including bilateral hearing loss, right knee, right hand, left knee, right ankle, and residuals of a traumatic brain injury due to untimely appeals or lack of evidence supporting current disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error regarding VA's obligation to obtain relevant records from the Social Security Administration.
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