The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient opinions regarding secondary service connection for left foot disability, specifically aggravation by a service-connected condition.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not fully address whether the Veteran's left foot arthritis was caused or aggravated by his right ankle fracture and shortening of the right leg.
- Claimed conditions
- left foot arthritis, left foot pes planus
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 12, 2020
- Citation
- 20072865
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 denied the veteran's claims for service connection, higher ratings, and earlier effective dates, as well as dismissed his claim for a TDIU.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date of August 15, 2022, for a 10 percent maximum initial rating for service-connected right foot metatarsalgia and granted service connection for right foot pes planus and left foot pes planus.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for left and right foot pes planus, plantar fasciitis, right ankle pain, left ankle pain, right hip pain, and left hip pain was dismissed due to an impermissible concurrent election of review.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for sleep apnea, right wrist sprain, left wrist disability manifested by pain, left foot arthritis, right foot arthritis and hallux valgus, headaches, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, degenerative changes of the cervical spine, right lateral epicondylitis (claimed as right arm disability), and left upper extremity cervical radiculopathy (claimed as left arm disability and left elbow disability).
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