The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral plantar fasciitis with plantar fibromatosis, degenerative arthritis of the right foot, degenerative arthritis of the left foot, degenerative arthritis of the right ankle, and degenerative arthritis of the left ankle due to inadequate opinions from VA examiners.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the VA examiners' opinions were insufficient to adjudicate the claims as they did not adequately address the Appellant's reports of ongoing pain during service related to wearing military boots.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral plantar fasciitis with plantar fibromatosis, degenerative arthritis of the right foot, degenerative arthritis of the left foot, degenerative arthritis of the right ankle, degenerative arthritis of the left ankle
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 1, 2020
- Citation
- A20017800
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for left ankle instability as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected left ankle disability and hypertension, but denied increased ratings for the left ankle disability and other forms of arthritis.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for left hand and right hand essential tremors, as well as increased ratings for knee instability, degenerative arthritis of the spine, and degenerative arthritis of the right ankle. The appeal was denied for a left ankle disability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder and left ear hearing loss, while dismissing the appeals for atopic dermatitis with folliculitis, migraine headaches, right ear hearing loss, degenerative arthritis of both ankles, and left hip coxa saltans.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeal in January 2025, stating that his feet are much better since he had surgeries and do not want to continue the claim.
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