The Board has granted separate extraschedular ratings of 10 percent for right and left ankle instability, but the issue of entitlement to a TDIU remains pending and needs further development.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's ankle disabilities present with symptoms such as instability and dislocation that are not adequately addressed by the current schedular criteria, warranting extraschedular ratings. The TDIU claim is also pending and requires additional development.
- Claimed conditions
- Right ankle sprain residuals, Left ankle ligamentous injury residuals
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20073495
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,164 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 20073495.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD, right elbow fractures, forehead scar, and other conditions have rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation since November 15, 2022. His TDIU claim is granted effective from that date.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and earlier effective dates were denied. The rating reduction from 20 percent to 10 percent for right thigh impairment was upheld.
- Denied
The Board denied increased evaluations for various service-connected conditions, finding that the evidence did not meet the criteria for higher ratings under either version of the applicable rating criteria.
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