Board reasoning
The Board denied service connection for a right foot disability due to lack of a current diagnosis or functional impairment and found no current right foot symptoms. For left foot metatarsalgia, the Board held that a 10% rating is the maximum under DC 5279 for unilateral metatarsalgia and that no higher or alternate rating is warranted; evidence did not show loss of use of the left foot. The knee claims were remanded for VA examinations and opinions, and the TBI residuals claim was remanded to obtain addendum opinions on Meniere's disease and vision changes as potential residuals of TBI. The Board also noted procedural history, pre-decisional errors to cure, and that some issues were influenced by favorable findings in prior rating decisions; it emphasized need for medical nexus opinions addressing direct, TERA, and secondary theories for the knees and TBI residuals.
Issues
- Right foot disability service connectionDenied
- Initial rating for left foot metatarsalgiaDenied
- Right knee disabilityRemanded
- Left knee disabilityRemanded
- Residuals of a traumatic brain injury (TBI)Remanded
Extracted with gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07. Citations are kept only when they appear in the decision text.