The Board has decided that the claim for service connection for left ankle sprain is remanded due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability caused or aggravated his current left ankle sprain.
The deciding factor: The decision in Spicer v. McDonough invalidated the proximate cause standard used by the August 2022 VA examiner, and thus a new medical opinion is needed using the 'but-for' causation test as outlined in Walsh v. Wilkie.
- Claimed conditions
- left ankle sprain
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 11, 2024
- Citation
- A24082643
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 A24082643.
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 current right and left ankle disabilities are related to repetitive parachute jumps during service, granting service connection for these conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for left ankle sprain, right ankle sprain, anxiety with situational type phobia, left hip strain, left knee strain, right knee strain, and lumbar strain are granted effective March 3, 2022.,An earlier effective date of March 3, 2022, is assigned for the Veteran's service connection claims.
- Denied
The Veteran's left ankle condition, diagnosed as a left ankle sprain and degenerative arthritis, is currently rated at 10 percent. The Board found that the evidence did not show marked limitation of motion or ankylosis, which would warrant a higher rating. Therefore, the claim for a higher rating was denied.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not prevent her from securing and maintaining substantial, gainful employment prior to May 1, 2021. Her earnings exceeded the poverty threshold for each year during this period.
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