The Board remands the claims for service connection for left and right ankle conditions, lumbosacral strain with muscle spasms, and a right-frontal cortical brain-infarction (claimed as traumatic brain-injury) to obtain additional medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The October 2021 VA examination reports and opinions are inadequate for the purposes of a service connection determination due to lack of rationale. This duty to assist error should be remedied on remand by providing the Veteran an addendum opinion that includes an adequate opinion and rationale.
- Claimed conditions
- left ankle condition, right ankle condition, lumbosacral strain with muscle spasms, right-frontal cortical brain-infarction (claimed as traumatic brain-injury)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 9, 2025
- Citation
- A25033066
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for right foot, left elbow, left hip, left ankle, and diabetes mellitus to obtain additional medical evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and other benefits, finding that the evidence did not support higher ratings or additional compensation.
- Partly granted
The Board granted the petition to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for a bilateral shoulder condition, but denied petitions to reopen claims for residuals of heat exhaustion, any dysfunction regulating body temperature, and a right ankle condition. The Board also remanded claims for bruxism and a bilateral shoulder condition.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a right ankle condition for compensation purposes due to his discharge being characterized as other than honorable.
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