The Board remands the claims for further development, as substantial compliance with previous remand directives was not achieved.
The deciding factor: The opinions provided in the VA examinations were inadequate and failed to address the Veteran's lay statements regarding functional impairment and flare-ups, requiring a new opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracolumbar spine degenerative disc disease with spondylosis, right ankle closed fracture status post open reduction and internal fixation, bilateral foot plantar fasciitis with pes planus, right elbow lateral epicondylitis, right shoulder status post subacromial decompression
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 29, 2025
- Citation
- 25005826
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his entire appeal, and the Board dismissed all related issues.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's petitions to readjudicate claims for service connection for right knee degenerative arthritis, left knee degenerative arthritis, right elbow lateral epicondylitis, left elbow lateral epicondylitis, and plantar fasciitis as no new and relevant evidence was submitted since the April 2020 rating decision.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an initial compensable disability rating for migraine headaches and remanded several other claims, including those for service connection for various conditions.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right knee osteoarthritis, right elbow lateral epicondylitis, mood disorder due to known physiological condition with depressive like features, bilateral foot pain with plantar fasciitis, and right foot pes planus. The decision also denied an increased rating for left knee degenerative arthritis, limitation of flexion, a separate 10 percent rating for left knee instability, an initial compensable disability rating for uterine fibroids, and a 10 percent evaluation based upon multiple, noncompensable, service-connected disabilities.
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