The Board has decided that the Veteran's right Achilles Tendon Disability may be service connected on a secondary basis due to his service-connected back and bilateral knee disabilities. The case is being remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: The medical opinion provided was inadequate as it did not address the aggravation element of secondary service connection, which is necessary in this case given the Veteran's lay statements regarding how his service-connected disabilities impact his achilles tendon disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Achilles Tendon Disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 11, 2023
- Citation
- 23050238
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 23050238.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's right Achilles tendon disability resulted in marked limitation of ankle motion as of May 25, 2018, but no earlier. The Board granted an effective date of May 25, 2018, for the award of a 20 percent rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development to determine the correct date of incarceration and whether the reduction of compensation benefits in November and December 1997 was proper.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have precluded him from securing or following substantially gainful employment consistent with his education and occupational experience.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
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