The Board has granted service connection for right foot gout and left foot gout as secondary to type II diabetes mellitus. The appeal regarding the right hand disability and left hand disability is remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
The deciding factor: The evidence is in equipoise as to whether the bilateral hand disabilities were caused or aggravated by the service-connected type II diabetes mellitus, necessitating further examination and opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- Right foot gout, Left foot gout, Post-traumatic arthritis of the right hand, Tendinitis of the right hand
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 28, 2022
- Citation
- A22026214
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 A22026214.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for right knee degenerative arthritis based on limitation of motion was denied. A separate 20 percent rating for a right knee meniscus tear is granted. The claims for service connection for left hip condition and right foot gout are dismissed.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a compensable disability rating for hearing loss was dismissed.,Service connection for sleep apnea, left ankle gout, right ankle gout, left foot gout, and right foot gout were granted as secondary to hypertension.,Service connection for degenerative arthritis of the spine was granted as secondary to residual fracture of the left ankle and bilateral knee degenerative arthritis.
- Partly granted
The Board has denied service connection for right knee gout and left knee gout, but has remanded the claims for right ankle gout, left ankle gout, right foot gout, and left foot gout. The Veteran's current diagnoses of bilateral ankle and bilateral foot gout are related to his patellofemoral pain syndrome.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for right and left foot disabilities, finding that there is no persuasive evidence linking his current conditions to his active service.
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