The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected left and right ankle post traumatic arthritis due to insufficient examination findings, specifically a lack of use of a goniometer during the examinations.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not use a goniometer during the initial examinations, which is required for more precise measurements of motion. The Board finds this error in duty to assist and requires remand to obtain an adequate examination.
- Claimed conditions
- left ankle post traumatic arthritis, right ankle post traumatic arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 22, 2024
- Citation
- A24020275
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 A24020275.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for left ankle post traumatic arthritis and right knee degenerative arthritis and meniscal tear, but denied earlier effective dates for the Veteran's painful scars of the bilateral wrists and thumb and deep nonlinear scars of the upper extremities.
- Denied
The Veteran's left ankle disability was evaluated at a 10 percent rating prior to September 24, 2013 and at a 20 percent rating on and after that date. The Board found no evidence of marked limitation of motion or x-ray evidence of involvement of two or more major joints with occasional incapacitating exacerbations.
- 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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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