The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for a right foot, left foot, and lower back disabilities due to insufficient evidence. The issues of service connection for a right knee and left knee disabilities are also inextricably intertwined with the claim for a lower back disability.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not consider the Veteran's lay assertion that his back problem began during active service and has persisted since then, which is necessary to form an opinion on whether it is at least as likely as not related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Foot Disability, Left Foot Disability, Eye Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 27, 2020
- Citation
- 20015064
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 20015064.
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 has denied service connection for the claimed conditions as there is no persuasive evidence of current diagnoses or in-service incurrence or aggravation.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a right foot disability, finding that the evidence is at least approximately evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran's post-service disability was incurred in service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for right foot, hip, and knee disabilities due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error in not obtaining opinions on causation or aggravation.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for Multiple Sclerosis, a headache disability as secondary to service-connected MS, and an eye disability as secondary to service-connected MS. The Veteran's current diagnoses of these conditions are supported by medical evidence, and the Board finds that they are related to her service-connected MS.
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