The Board has remanded the case for further development, including a VA examination and opinion regarding the nature and severity of the Veteran's bilateral stress fractures of the heels. The AOJ is also instructed to assist the Veteran in filing a claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability secondary to his foot disability.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the decision was deficient in three specific areas, including accepting at face value a notification letter erroneously dated May 2019 and failing to address an impliedly raised claim of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability secondary to his foot disability.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral stress fractures of the heels
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 11, 2024
- Citation
- 24034157
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 24034157.
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.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected bilateral heel stress fractures warrant a 10 percent disability evaluation, reflecting moderate foot injuries.
- 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.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
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