The Board remands the issues of entitlement to service connection for left knee degenerative disease, right knee degenerative disease, and right ankle condition due to inadequate medical opinions that failed to consider the Veteran's lay statements.
The deciding factor: Remand is required as the previous opinions did not adequately address the Veteran's lay statements and arguments regarding his altered gait and service-connected bilateral calcaneal stress fractures.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee degenerative disease, right knee degenerative disease, right ankle condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 9, 2024
- Citation
- 24031652
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 the veteran's claims for increased ratings and other benefits, finding that the evidence did not support higher ratings or additional compensation.
- Partly granted
The Board granted the petition to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for a bilateral shoulder condition, but denied petitions to reopen claims for residuals of heat exhaustion, any dysfunction regulating body temperature, and a right ankle condition. The Board also remanded claims for bruxism and a bilateral shoulder condition.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a right ankle condition for compensation purposes due to his discharge being characterized as other than honorable.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for left ankle, right ankle, and bilateral foot conditions to ensure proper notice and an opportunity for a VA examination.
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