The Board has determined that the previous denial of service connection for a right foot disability was due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The Veteran's current condition is being remanded for further evaluation and opinion regarding whether his arthritis and cold injury residuals are related to service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner needs to clarify the current status of the Veteran's right foot disabilities, including whether he currently has arthritis or cold injury residual disability, and provide an opinion on their relationship to service, particularly exposure to cold weather during field exercises in Germany.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the right foot, cold injury residuals in the right foot
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 10, 2024
- Citation
- A24054628
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 A24054628.
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 tinnitus and remanded the claims for an acquired psychiatric disability, a sleep disorder, type two diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, vertigo, hypertension, migraine headaches, arthritis of various joints, and kidney disease.
- Granted
The Veteran's arthritis of the right foot and left foot are granted service connection. Bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are denied, and a right leg disability is remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's asthma is granted as service-connected.,Service connection for COPD, arthritis of the right hand, arthritis of the left hand, arthritis of the right foot, arthritis of the left foot, and arthritis of the cervical spine is remanded due to insufficient evidence.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings of skin cancer excision scars, bilateral hearing loss, and multiple noncompensable disabilities are dismissed. The Board also remanded the Veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for service-connected hypertension, as well as his claims for arthritis of various joints.
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