The Board has granted service connection for a left ankle disability as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right foot Morton's neuroma, finding that the Veteran's gait abnormality due to his right foot condition caused his left ankle arthritis.
The deciding factor: The private consultant provided a robust rationale linking the Veteran's altered gait and biomechanical changes to his right foot disability, which in turn caused his left ankle arthritis.
- Claimed conditions
- left ankle arthritis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 12, 2024
- Citation
- A24083242
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 A24083242.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The appeal of the proposed reduction in PTSD rating from 70% to 50%, and for service connection claims related to various joints and diabetes mellitus type II, has been dismissed due to procedural issues. The Veteran withdrew his appeals.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's requests to reopen previously denied service connection claims for various joint conditions, including right ankle arthritis, left ankle arthritis, right shoulder pain, left shoulder pain, right knee arthritis, and left knee arthritis. The skin condition claim is remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for left ankle arthritis, left foot nerve damage and numbness, and right ankle sciatica nerve pain due to inadequate opinions in the February 2025 VA examination.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, headaches, hypertension, neck disability, right hand arthritis of fingers, left hand arthritis of fingers, right knee arthritis, left knee arthritis, right ankle arthritis, left ankle arthritis, and left foot arthritis of toes. The Board also remanded the issues regarding service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and bilateral pes planus with plantar fasciitis.,The Board has denied service connection for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and incontinence. The Board has also denied service connection for a bilateral eye disability.
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