The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection of his bilateral hip and ankle conditions, including as secondary to his service-connected pes planus and/or bilateral foot osteoarthritis (OA). The Board found that there was no evidence linking these disabilities to active service or the service-connected conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners determined that the Veteran's diagnosed bilateral hip and ankle disorders were not caused by the service-connected bilateral pes planus and/or bilateral foot OA, nor did they find any evidence of aggravation due to active service.
- Claimed conditions
- left hip DJD, right hip DJD, left ankle condition (including left ankle sprain), right ankle osteochondral defect and sinus tarsi syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 10, 2020
- Citation
- 20059488
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 20059488.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of July 14, 2005 for SMC based on housebound status is granted. The decision finds that the Veteran has a single disability rated as total (left knee disability via extraschedular TDIU from February 25, 2005) and separate service-connected disabilities ratable at a combined 60 percent disabling (acquired psychiatric disorder at 70 percent from July 14, 2005), as required by the law.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for right hip replacement residuals with DJD, left hip DJD, and asthma due to a lack of STRs and the need for VA examinations.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his left knee and hip conditions were denied. The Board found that the current disability ratings adequately reflected the severity of the Veteran's symptoms.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various joint and musculoskeletal conditions, as well as a cognitive disorder and headaches. The Veteran's symptoms were found to be already compensated by the service-connected chronic fatigue syndrome.
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