The Veteran's claims for service connection for obesity, compress spine fracture (back disability), plantar fasciitis, and bilateral heel spurs are denied. The Board has remanded the issues of entitlement to service connection for sleep apnea, initial rating in excess of 20 percent for the back disability, initial rating in excess of 10 percent for plantar fasciitis, and initial compensable rating for bilateral heel spurs.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's obesity is not a recognized disability for VA compensation purposes. The Board has also remanded the issues related to sleep apnea, as there are insufficient medical opinions regarding its etiology.
- Claimed conditions
- obesity, compress spine fracture (back disability), plantar fasciitis, bilateral heel spurs
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 22, 2020
- Citation
- 20004993
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 claim for a medical opinion on whether plantar fasciitis was aggravated by active duty training.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection for obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, and hypertension.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a restoration of the separate 10 percent rating for vertigo, an earlier effective date for service connection for vertigo and migraines, and a 30 percent rating for hypothyroidism with heart murmur. The decision also denied an earlier effective date for hypertension and remanded claims for obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, and individual unemployability.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bronchitis, COPD, asthma, and plantar fasciitis as not being related to the Veteran's military service. The Board also denied an increased rating for painful malunion of the left clavicle, compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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