The Board has granted the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral ankle and foot disabilities as secondary to his service-connected bilateral knee disability.
The deciding factor: The private medical opinions provided by L.B. established that the Veteran’s current bilateral foot and ankle disabilities were caused by his service-connected bilateral knee disability, resulting in an antalgic gait that increased pressure on his feet and ankles.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral ankle disability, bilateral foot disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 8, 2020
- Citation
- 20065596
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral foot disability, respiratory disability (breathing difficulty), cardiac disability (irregular heartbeat), and right hip disability as there was no evidence of a current disability or a link to active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a bilateral foot disability to obtain an addendum medical opinion addressing whether the Veteran's pre-existing pes planus was aggravated by service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple disabilities, including bilateral wrist, ankle, foot, shoulder, allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, lumbosacral spine, and carpal tunnel syndrome, as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to active service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, a right shoulder disability, diabetes mellitus type II, left and right lower extremity neuropathy, and a bilateral foot disability as secondary to diabetes mellitus due to lack of new and relevant evidence.
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