The Board remands the claim for a right ankle disability, to include right ankle lateral collateral ligament sprain and degenerative disease with degenerative arthritis, due to an inadequate medical nexus opinion.
The deciding factor: The May 2022 VA examination is found to be inadequate as it does not properly address the Veteran's lay statements regarding the continuity of symptoms since service.
- Claimed conditions
- right ankle lateral collateral ligament sprain, degenerative disease with degenerative arthritis of the right ankle
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 11, 2024
- Citation
- A24065352
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 sleep apnea, left shoulder bicipital tendon tear, hypogonadism, erectile dysfunction, and left carpal tunnel syndrome. The claims for increased ratings for lumbar spondylosis with facet arthropathy and lumbosacral strain, right hip strain with osteoarthritis, other specified trauma and stressor related disorder, left and right ankle lateral collateral ligament sprain, right shoulder rotator cuff tear, left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome, right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome (to include iliotibial band syndrome), and chronic right wrist sprain were denied. The Board also granted an effective date of July 7, 2023 for the award of increased ratings.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, dismissing or denying all appeals.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral plantar fasciitis, left foot bone spur, left and right upper extremity radiculopathy, and right ankle lateral collateral ligament sprain as the evidence did not support a finding of an in-service incurrence or a causal relationship between the claimed conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection for right ankle lateral collateral ligament sprain, finding that the August 13, 2024 intent to file a claim was not received within one year of the October 2022 rating decision.
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