The Board remands the claim for service connection for left hammer toe to obtain a medical opinion on whether the pre-existing condition was aggravated by service.
The deciding factor: No VA examiner has provided an opinion regarding potential aggravation of the Veteran's pre-existing left hammer toe, which is necessary to make a fully informed decision on the issue.
- Claimed conditions
- left hammer toe
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 20, 2025
- Citation
- A25015639
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,645 · Granted: 19% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A25015639.
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.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for right hammer toe, left hammer toe, lower back strain, and an acquired psychiatric disorder (depression) as there is no persuasive evidence of current diagnoses of these conditions during the pendency of the claim or approximate to its initiation.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for left hammer toe and left hallux valgus, but the issues of service connection for a left ankle disability, right ankle disability, sleep apnea, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), muscle pain, and joint pain are remanded.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for diabetes mellitus type II was denied. Service connection was granted for right hammer toe, left hammer toe, pes cavus, and peripheral vascular disease (PVD).
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for all the claimed conditions as there was no evidence of a current disability or that any of the disabilities were related to active duty.
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