The Board has dismissed the claim of entitlement to service connection for a right ankle disorder. The left ankle disorder issue is remanded due to lack of evidence and need for further examination.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's lay testimony regarding an in-service injury and post-service self-treatment must be considered, along with the lack of documented treatment in service or long period after.
- Claimed conditions
- left ankle disorder, ligament problem
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2022
- Citation
- 22001049
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,088 · Granted: 33% (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 22001049.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for bilateral hearing loss, left ankle disorder, and skin disorder (claimed as neurodermatitis) due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology. The Veteran is required to undergo additional VA examinations to determine if his current conditions are related to service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for treatment purposes only under Chapter 17 for various conditions, including cervical spine condition, right upper extremity nerve condition, left upper extremity nerve condition, headache condition, right wrist condition, left wrist condition, right elbow condition, left elbow condition, right shoulder condition, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), bilateral pes planus, right ankle disorder, left ankle disorder, and left knee disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the cases for new VA examinations due to inadequate opinions in the July 2020 VA examination reports. The Veteran's right shoulder disorder, left ankle disorder, and lumbar spine disorder are being reviewed again to determine if they are related to his active duty service.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal for a higher rating for tinnitus and denied claims for earlier effective dates for service connection of left breast scars, hyperlipidemia/high cholesterol, bilateral hip disorders, and left ankle disorder.
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