The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for a bilateral ankle condition, left elbow condition, and bilateral hand condition due to inadequate addendum opinions from VA medical providers. The Veteran's lay assertions regarding in-service injuries will be considered.
The deciding factor: VA medical providers were not able to adequately consider the Veteran's lay assertions about her in-service injuries without discounting them outright.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral ankle condition, left elbow condition, bilateral hand condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2024
- Citation
- 24003413
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,797 · Granted: 20% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 24003413.
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 denied service connection for treatment purposes only under Chapter 17 for various conditions, including cervical spine condition, right upper extremity nerve condition, left upper extremity nerve condition, headache condition, right wrist condition, left wrist condition, right elbow condition, left elbow condition, right shoulder condition, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), bilateral pes planus, right ankle disorder, left ankle disorder, and left knee disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to inadequate development of evidence, specifically failing to provide a VA examination or medical opinion regarding his claimed bilateral ankle, knee, low back, and left shoulder conditions. The claims are being returned to the AOJ for further action.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for left elbow, hand, and knee conditions related to gout have been granted. The claim for a left hip condition has been denied due to lack of current disability evidence. Service connection for the left shoulder condition is also denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's previously denied claim for bilateral ankle condition is dismissed.,New evidence supports the readjudication of claims for service connection for right knee, bilateral foot, and lumbosacral strain conditions.
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