The Veteran's May 2012 claim for service connection for bunion deformities was closed without a rating decision, and the Board finds good cause to accept the April 2015 Notice of Disagreement as timely. The appeal is granted, and the claim will be adjudicated on the merits.
The deciding factor: The Veteran had not received notice of the July 2013 closure decision and was unaware of it due to incarceration.
- Claimed conditions
- bunion deformities
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 16, 2023
- Citation
- 23045663
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 23045663.
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 remands the claim for service connection of a left foot condition to obtain an adequate opinion regarding its etiology, as there is insufficient evidence in the pre-decisional record.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral foot disability, characterized by plantar warts/calluses and hallux valgus deformity, is rated as moderate with a 10% evaluation.
- Granted
The Board has granted a 50 percent evaluation for the veteran's service-connected bilateral bunion deformities, finding that his disability picture more nearly approximates the criteria for such an evaluation.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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