The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral ankle disability and acquired psychiatric disability due to a lack of VA examination before death, requiring further medical opinions.
The deciding factor: Further medical opinions are needed to determine if there is a nexus between the Veteran's reported in-service events and his current disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Ankle Disability, Acquired Psychiatric Disability (including Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety, and PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 14, 2021
- Citation
- 21074292
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 21074292.
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 denied service connection for right shoulder, lumbar spine, bilateral knee, and bilateral ankle disabilities due to a lack of credible evidence linking these conditions to service or any presumptive exposure.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for tinnitus, bilateral hip, knee, and ankle disabilities due to a lack of evidence supporting an in-service injury or continuity of symptomatology. The claim for a psychiatric disorder was also denied as the Veteran's statements were found not credible.
- Dismissed
The appeal for an initial compensable rating for GERD was withdrawn, and the claims for service connection for a low back disability, bilateral ankle disability, bilateral knee disability, and right knee disability were denied.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed by the Veteran's representative on January 22, 2025.
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