The Board denied service connection for right and left toe disorders, as well as increased ratings for osteoarthritis of the knees. The appeal was also remanded for further review on several other issues.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not support a finding that the Veteran's toe or knee conditions were related to his military service or service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Right toe disorder, Left toe disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 14, 2020
- Citation
- 20003146
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,350 · 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 20003146.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
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 case for further development regarding a left toe disorder and service connection. The Veteran's initial disability rating of 60 percent for his left knee degenerative arthritis remains unchanged.
- Granted
The Veteran's seizure disorder and bilateral foot disorder are granted service connection. The right toe disorder, undiagnosed illness or MUCMI, gastrointestinal disorder, headache disorder, memory loss, residuals from the malaria vaccine, back disorder, right shoulder disorder, brain tumor, and bilateral eye disorder are remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disorder and left toe disorder, finding no evidence of a link between these conditions and his military service.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
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