The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right ankle strain, but dismissed the claim for an increased rating in excess of 50 percent for bilateral calcaneal spurs.
The deciding factor: The decision was based on a positive nexus opinion linking the Veteran's psychiatric condition to his service-connected right ankle strain, with all reasonable doubt resolved in favor of the Veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral calcaneal spurs, acquired psychiatric disorder, to include unspecified depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- October 21, 2025
- Citation
- A25090833
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,188 · Granted: 23% (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 A25090833.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for her bilateral foot disabilities was denied, with the maximum schedular rating of 50 percent being assigned. The claim for increased rating of her left ankle achilles tendonitis disability was also denied.,The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating for the left ankle achilles tendonitis due to moderate limited motion (less than 15 degrees dorsiflexion or less than 30 degrees plantar flexion). The Veteran's knee disorder secondary to her service-connected foot disabilities was also remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates and increased ratings for bilateral calcaneal spurs are denied. The Board finds that the earliest possible effective date has already been assigned, as the Veteran's claim was received on February 11, 2011.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection and rating issues related to left ankle arthritis, bilateral plantar fasciitis, COPD, and bilateral calcaneal spurs was dismissed due to untimely submission of the Notice of Disagreement.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include unspecified depressive disorder, for further development and a VA examination.
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