The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for bilateral ankle and knee conditions, as secondary to service-connected arthrosis of bilateral feet with plantar fasciitis. Additional development is needed due to insufficient opinions in previous VA examinations.
The deciding factor: Previous VA examination opinions are insufficient and do not address direct service connection or consider the Veteran's lay statements and medical records indicating antalgic gait.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral ankle condition, bilateral knee condition
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 8, 2020
- Citation
- 20001590
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 remands the claims for service connection for a neck condition, bilateral elbow condition, bilateral hip condition, bilateral ankle condition, and narcolepsy due to inadequate VA examinations and potential pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The claims for service connection for cervical strain, back condition, bilateral knee condition, and left humerus bone tumor are remanded due to the need for further clarification of the Veteran's service dates and outstanding medical records.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, finding that the evidence did not support a finding of a causal relationship between the claimed conditions and active duty service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for tinnitus, bilateral hearing loss, bilateral pes planus (flat feet), bilateral ankle condition, bilateral knee condition, and lower back condition as there was no evidence of a current disability or that the disabilities were related to the Veteran's military service.
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