The Board remands the claims for service connection for left ankle, bilateral hammer toe, bilateral plantar fasciitis, and low back conditions to ensure that VA medical examinations are conducted with sufficient detail to provide a fully informed picture of the claimed disabilities.
The deciding factor: Insufficient evidence was provided in the May 2022 VA examinations to determine whether any of the claimed conditions are related to service or aggravated by service, including related to any service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- left ankle sprain condition, left foot, hammer toe condition, right foot, hammer toe condition, bilateral plantar fasciitis (claimed as secondary to hammer toes and left ankle sprain), low back condition
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 8, 2025
- Citation
- A25032468
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 964 · Granted: 37% (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 A25032468.
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 granted the Veteran's claim for service connection of his low back condition, finding that it is related to his military service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a neck condition and a low back condition, finding that the Veteran's current diagnoses are related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to inadequate development of evidence, specifically failing to provide a VA examination or medical opinion regarding his claimed bilateral ankle, knee, low back, and left shoulder conditions. The claims are being returned to the AOJ for further action.
- Denied
The Board has determined that there is no evidence of a current disability for any of the claimed conditions, and thus service connection cannot be granted.
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