The Board has determined that the VA examination conducted in March 2021 was inadequate for decisional purposes and has ordered a new VA examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's degenerative joint disease of the bilateral ankles.
The deciding factor: The Board found the March 2021 VA examiner's findings insufficient due to lack of adequate rationale regarding functional loss during flare-ups, necessitating a remand for further development and an adequate VA examination.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative joint disease right ankle, degenerative joint disease left ankle
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 6, 2024
- Citation
- A24043888
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 A24043888.
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 all the claimed conditions as there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between any of the claimed conditions and the Veteran's active military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional development due to outstanding VA and federal medical records, as well as new examinations to assess the current severity of his service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus disabilities are not related to his active service, but additional evidence is needed for other conditions. The Veteran will need to provide updated treatment records and undergo a new VA examination.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected bilateral temporomandibular disorder bruxism, lumbar scoliosis degenerative disc disease L4-5 and facet arthropathy L5-S1, and degenerative joint disease right ankle are not rated higher than the current assigned ratings.
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