The Board has found that the VA examinations are inadequate and additional development is needed to determine the current severity of the Veteran's cervical spine arthritis, right ankle arthritis, and left ankle arthritis with prosthesis.
The deciding factor: The examination reports do not comply with the requirements in Correia v. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 158 (2016), as they lack passive range of motion measurements for pain on weight-bearing and without weight-bearing.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine arthritis, right ankle arthritis, left ankle arthritis with prosthesis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2022
- Citation
- 22000055
Veterans Law Judge
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 22000055.
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.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for all claims of service connection, including those for bilateral flat feet, thoracolumbar spine degenerative arthritis, cervical spine degenerative arthritis, right CTS, left CTS, essential tremors, right ankle arthritis, right shoulder arthritis, and left knee arthritis. The appeal of sleep apnea was granted in a July 2024 rating decision.
- Dismissed
The appeal of the proposed reduction in PTSD rating from 70% to 50%, and for service connection claims related to various joints and diabetes mellitus type II, has been dismissed due to procedural issues. The Veteran withdrew his appeals.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a neck/cervical spine disability, finding that his current condition is at least as likely as not related to active duty service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings and service connection have been dismissed as the Veteran requested to withdraw all of his appeals prior to a decision being made.
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