The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for right and left foot disorders due to inadequate opinions regarding the onset of current diagnoses.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide an adequate opinion on whether the Veteran's current diagnoses are related to in-service bruising, which is a necessary step for direct service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Foot Arthritis, Right Foot Ingrown Toenails, Left Foot Ingrown Toenails
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20073775
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,200 · Granted: 43% (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 20073775.
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 Board has granted an initial disability rating of 20 percent for the Veteran's service-connected right and left feet conditions, which include arthritis, hallux valgus (bunions), and calluses. The ratings are effective from December 18, 2008.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to his service-connected disabilities, finding that they do not prevent him from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection of right foot arthritis prior to April 28, 2015 is granted. The effective date is set at October 29, 2009.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of a right foot disability, finding that his condition was due to a congenital defect and not related to active military service.
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