The Veteran's claims for service connection for left calcaneal spur and bilateral hammertoes have been granted. The claim for secondary service connection of the hammertoes to his service-connected conditions has also been remanded.
The deciding factor: New evidence was submitted that raised a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claims, including a VA examination opinion linking current hammertoe diagnoses to physical training activities associated with active duty.
- Claimed conditions
- left calcaneal spur, bilateral hammertoes
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 17, 2022
- Citation
- 22009470
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 22009470.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 determined that a remand is necessary due to multiple pre-decisional duty to assist errors, including inadequate VA examinations and Gulf War examination.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hammertoes and chronic mycotic infections of the bilateral feet, as there was no evidence to support a nexus between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a bilateral foot disorder, including bilateral pes planus, Hepatitis C keratoma, and bilateral hammertoes.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for a new VA examination to address discrepancies between the Veteran's symptoms and the findings of the previous VA examiner, as well as to adjudicate the issue of entitlement to SMC based on the loss of use of feet.
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