The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection and secondary service connection for his right foot, left foot, right wrist/hand, and left wrist/hand disabilities. The claims are being returned to the RO for additional development.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners' opinions were inadequate as they did not consider the Veteran's lay statements regarding the onset and continuity of symptomatology, nor his assertion of an 11-year period of sobriety from alcohol.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Foot Disability, Left Foot Disability, Right Wrist and/or Hand Disability, Left Wrist and/or Hand Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2023
- Citation
- 23017054
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 23017054.
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.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for the claimed conditions as there is no persuasive evidence of current diagnoses or in-service incurrence or aggravation.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a right foot disability, finding that the evidence is at least approximately evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran's post-service disability was incurred in service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for right foot, hip, and knee disabilities due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error in not obtaining opinions on causation or aggravation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service connection claims for erectile dysfunction and voiding dysfunction have been denied due to the lack of evidence linking these conditions to his in-service exposure.,The remaining service connection claims (for bilateral feet, ankles, hip, wrist, cervical spine, upper extremity radiculopathy, psychiatric disorder, GERD, sleep apnea, and hypertension) are remanded for further development.
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