The Board remands the claims for service connection for right and left foot pes cavus as there was insufficient evidence to determine their etiology, necessitating further development.
The deciding factor: The RO did not substantially comply with the Board's previous directives, leading to an inadequate medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's pes cavus conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- right foot pes cavus, left foot pes cavus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 21, 2024
- Citation
- 24033312
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 earlier effective dates for the grants of service connection for right and left foot pes planus, metatarsalgia, and plantar fasciitis, an effective date of April 22, 2020, for the grant of service connection for right and left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, and a TDIU. However, it denied higher ratings for bilateral cavus and compensable disability ratings for scars.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for major depressive disorder, with anxious distress, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, left ankle traumatic arthritis, right ankle traumatic arthritis, left knee chondromalacia, right knee chondromalacia, and left foot pes cavus, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for right foot pes cavus, finding that the Veteran's condition was incurred in or aggravated by his active-duty service.
- Partly granted
The appeal of entitlement to service connection for diabetes mellitus type II was dismissed, while the appeals for peroneal neuritis and increased evaluation for right foot plantar fasciitis were granted. The issues related to osteoarthritis and pes cavus were remanded.
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