The Board remands the claims for a higher rating for right ankle disability and service connection for bilateral foot disability to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to inadequate VA examinations and lack of medical opinions regarding aggravation of the Veteran's foot disability by his service-connected right ankle disability, as well as potential worsening of pes planus during service.
- Claimed conditions
- right ankle distal tibia and fibular fracture with open reduction and internal fixation, bilateral foot disability
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 6, 2025
- Citation
- A25041192
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 denied service connection for bilateral foot disability, respiratory disability (breathing difficulty), cardiac disability (irregular heartbeat), and right hip disability as there was no evidence of a current disability or a link to active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a bilateral foot disability to obtain an addendum medical opinion addressing whether the Veteran's pre-existing pes planus was aggravated by service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple disabilities, including bilateral wrist, ankle, foot, shoulder, allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, lumbosacral spine, and carpal tunnel syndrome, as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to active service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, a right shoulder disability, diabetes mellitus type II, left and right lower extremity neuropathy, and a bilateral foot disability as secondary to diabetes mellitus due to lack of new and relevant evidence.
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