The Board remands the claims for an initial disability rating in excess of 20 percent for degenerative arthritis of the spine and service connection for a left ankle disability, to include as secondary to the service-connected degenerative arthritis of the spine, due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that there are outstanding records from private providers that may be relevant to the claims, and that an adequate medical opinion regarding aggravation is needed for the left ankle disability claim.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the spine, Left ankle disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 29, 2025
- Citation
- A25038971
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 699 · Granted: 12% (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 A25038971.
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 appellant's claim for service connection for left ankle disability residuals, finding that his current condition is due to an in-service injury and granting the benefit of the doubt.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for degenerative arthritis of the spine, right knee degenerative arthritis, left knee degenerative arthritis, right ankle degenerative arthritis, and left ankle degenerative arthritis.
- Granted
The Veteran's low back disability is rated at 50 percent effective February 13, 2021. His left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy is rated at 80 percent from April 21, 2013 to February 12, 2021. The Veteran's TDIU claim has an earlier effective date of April 21, 2013.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims for service connection have been dismissed due to their death.
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