The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral pes planus, talonavicular joint collapse, and bilateral knee disability due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners provided inadequate opinions on the etiology of the Veteran's conditions, particularly regarding whether they are related to service or secondary to other service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Pes Planus, Talonavicular Joint Collapse, Bilateral Knee Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20004274
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,287 · Granted: 23% (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 20004274.
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 determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD and bilateral knee disability must be remanded due to duty-to-assist errors. The Veteran's reported stressors need to be verified, and a VA examination is required to address the etiology of his bilateral knee condition.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for an initial compensable rating for athletes' foot and a greater than 30 percent rating for bilateral pes planus have been dismissed due to untimely VA Form 10182 submissions.,The Veteran's claim of service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome has been remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection for traumatic brain injury is granted, and he is awarded a higher level of SMC based on the need for aid and attendance due to his service-connected PTSD and additional disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to insufficient medical evidence in the file on which to decide these claims. The appellant's VA treatment records contain diagnoses of GAD and OSA, and he reported symptoms related to his disabilities during service. A new examination and opinion are required to determine if the acquired psychiatric disorder is associated with service, as well as for OSA and bilateral pes planus and plantar fasciitis.
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