The Veteran's service connection claims for bilateral congenital pes planus, an acquired psychiatric disorder (depression and PTSD), and gout, bilateral feet have all been denied. The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral pes planus is a congenital disease not aggravated by service, his acquired psychiatric disorder does not meet the criteria for service connection as it did not begin during service or be related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, and his gout was not shown to have begun during service.,Service connection on secondary basis has also been denied due to lack of a service-connected condition.

The deciding factor: The Veteran's bilateral pes planus is considered a congenital disease that preexisted service. The Board found clear and unmistakable evidence that the condition was not aggravated by service, thus denying service connection.,Regarding his acquired psychiatric disorder, the Board determined there was no in-service injury or event leading to the current diagnosis of depression and PTSD, nor did it find any relationship between the Veteran's current symptoms and an in-service injury. The claim for secondary service connection on pes planus was also denied as there is no service-connected condition.,For his gout, the Board found that while the Veteran complained of foot pain during service, he was not diagnosed with gout until years after separation from service. Therefore, it did not meet the criteria to be considered a service-connected disability.

Claimed conditions

bilateral congenital pes planus, an acquired psychiatric disorder (depression and PTSD), gout, bilateral feet

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

None in this decision

Decision date

January 3, 2022

Citation

22000136

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 22000136.