The Board denied service connection for right ankle disability, left ankle disability, right shin splint, and left shin splint as there is no evidence of a chronic disease shown in service or subsequent manifestations of the same chronic disease.
The deciding factor: The weight of the competent and credible evidence indicates that the Veteran did not manifest either a diagnosis during service or within one year of separation from service nor continuous symptoms after separation. An opinion linking current complaints to an injury over three decades prior requires medical knowledge not capable of lay observation, and the examiners' conclusions are supported by sound rationale.
- Claimed conditions
- right ankle disability, left ankle disability, right shin splint, left shin splint
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 30, 2024
- Citation
- A24070275
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disabilities to the AOJ for further development and consideration of evidence not previously considered.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection, increased ratings, and earlier effective dates as there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between his current conditions and his active military service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right ankle, left ankle, back disability, and other conditions as there is no evidence of a current disability related to the Veteran's military service.
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