The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether metatarsalgia of the left foot is caused or aggravated by service-connected left knee patellofemoral syndrome.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not address the issue of aggravation in the initial examination, which is required for a secondary service connection claim.
- Claimed conditions
- metatarsalgia of the left foot
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20073630
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 961 · Granted: 20% (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 20073630.
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 bilateral pes planus, metatarsalgia of both feet, plantar fasciitis of both feet, and neuropathy of both feet have been granted effective July 14, 2014. The Veteran also received a separate rating for hammertoes of the right foot (10%) and left foot (10%), as well as arthritis of the first MTP joint of the right and left foot (10%).
- Denied
The Board denied an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for metatarsalgia of the left foot, as the maximum schedular evaluation is already assigned.
- Granted
The Board granted a 20 percent rating, but no higher, for the Veteran's left foot metatarsalgia on an extraschedular basis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development, including updated VA examinations to address the etiology and severity of the Veteran's conditions.
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