The Board has decided to remand the cases of the Veteran's service connection claims for left and right Achilles tendon repairs due to inadequate medical opinions based on inaccurate factual backgrounds.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinions were not based on accurate factual backgrounds, leading to an incorrect conclusion that the injuries occurred during active service. The Board requires new and adequate medical opinions to address these issues.
- Claimed conditions
- left Achilles tendon repair, right Achilles tendon repair
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20073500
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,886 · Granted: 24% (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 20073500.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The claims are being remanded to determine the current severity of the Veteran's left and right ankle disabilities, including after his December 2017 surgery. The case will be returned for further review.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for updated VA examinations and additional treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development of his claims, including obtaining VA treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to assess the severity of his service-connected left Achilles tendon repair and any current right leg, bilateral hip, and bilateral knee disorders.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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