The Board denied service connection for a personality disorder and remanded several other claims related to various disabilities, including eating disorders, ankle conditions, knee conditions, OSA, hip strains, lumbar spine DDD, and neuropathy of the lower extremities.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's obesity was not found to be caused or aggravated by his service-connected persistent depressive disorder with anxious distress and pes planus with plantar fasciitis and metatarsalgia. The claims for service connection were remanded for further development and opinions regarding the etiology of these conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Personality disorder, Eating disorder, Left ankle condition with osteoarthritis (OA), Right ankle condition with OA, Right knee OA and patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS), Left knee OA and PFPS, Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), Right hip strain, Left hip strain, Lumbar spine degenerative disc disease (DDD), Neuropathy of the left lower extremity (LLE), Neuropathy of the right lower extremity (RLE)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 18, 2024
- Citation
- 24002746
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 appeal for higher ratings and effective dates for various conditions was denied, with the exception of left and right lower extremity radiculopathy which were granted an earlier effective date.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and personality disorder, due to the need for further development of the record.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for various disabilities and granted earlier effective dates for service connection of scars, but denied an earlier effective date for individual unemployability.
- Dismissed
The appeals for service connection for right ear hearing loss and a compensable evaluation for left ear hearing loss were dismissed as the Veteran withdrew his appeals at a December 2024 Board hearing. The remaining claims are being remanded for further development.
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