The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to insufficient medical records and inadequate examination. The Veteran's right ankle disability is presumed to be related to his service-connected condition, but the relationship of his left foot and left ankle disabilities to this condition needs further clarification.
The deciding factor: The VA failed to obtain all necessary medical records and provide a proper examination that addressed imaging requirements for determining the etiology of the Veteran's disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Foot Disability, Left Foot Disability, Left Ankle Disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 21, 2021
- Citation
- 21003304
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 21003304.
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 has denied service connection for the claimed conditions as there is no persuasive evidence of current diagnoses or in-service incurrence or aggravation.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for right and left ankle disabilities, as well as denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The Veteran's claims for other conditions are remanded due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a right foot disability, finding that the evidence is at least approximately evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran's post-service disability was incurred in service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for left ankle and right shoulder disabilities due to inadequate VA examination opinions. The claims will be reviewed again with new medical opinions.
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