The Board remands the claims for service connection for radiculopathy of both lower extremities and bilateral plantar fasciitis to obtain additional medical evidence regarding potential aggravation by a service-connected disability.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to inadequate VA opinions that did not address whether the Veteran's diagnosed conditions could have been aggravated by his service-connected disabilities, as required by El-Amin v. Shinseki.
- Claimed conditions
- radiculopathy left lower extremity, radiculopathy right lower extremity, bilateral plantar fasciitis
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 25, 2025
- Citation
- A25027509
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 granted a separate rating of 10 percent for bilateral plantar fasciitis effective February 1, 2023.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial rating of 70 percent for the Veteran's service-connected depressive disorder due to another medical condition with depressive features and generalized anxiety disorder, denied a higher rating for his migraine including migraine variants, and denied ratings for other conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including bilateral plantar fasciitis, chronic pain syndrome, sciatic radicular pain of both legs, traumatic brain injury (TBI), shin splints of both legs, thoracic spondylosis, right shoulder strain, right wrist strain, acne, and allergic rhinitis.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for earlier effective dates and increased ratings, as well as higher levels of special monthly compensation.
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