The Board denied an effective date prior to March 6, 2023, for the award of service connection for right ankle degenerative arthritis and remanded claims for a recurrent cervical spine disability and a higher rating for the right ankle.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not show that the Veteran's right ankle disability originated earlier than his discharge from active service in October 2003, and there was no new and material evidence to warrant an earlier effective date under the PACT Act.
- Claimed conditions
- right ankle degenerative arthritis, osteochondritis dissecans, and degenerative arthrosis, right talar osteochondral fracture residuals and avascular necrosis, arthroscopy residuals, and debridement residuals, recurrent cervical spine disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 12, 2025
- Citation
- A25097937
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 918 · Granted: 32% (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 A25097937.
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 has remanded the case due to a lack of proper notice and is now required to provide the Veteran with a pre-decisional hearing.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings due to incomplete records, including a lack of color photographs of his scars. The claims are being returned to the agency that made the initial decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence regarding the onset and relationship of the claimed disabilities to active service.
- Granted
The appeal was granted as the February 2021 Decision Review Request: Higher-Level Review, VA Form 20-996, was timely filed within one year of the January 2021 Agency of Original Jurisdiction determination.
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