BVA decisions by condition

Right ankle disability: BVA grant rates and what wins

From 2017 to 2026, the Board of Veterans' Appeals decided a right ankle disability issue in 1,003 decisions. It granted the right ankle disability issue in 0.2% of them, below the 19.4% grant rate for all conditions, denied it in 9.2%, and remanded it in 87.4%. Counting only decisions on the merits (granted or denied), 2.1% were granted.

Decisions

1,003

2017–2026

Granted

0.2%

All conditions: 19.4%

Granted on the merits

2.1%

Granted ÷ (granted + denied)

Remanded

87.4%

Denied: 9.2%

Right ankle disability outcomes by year

YearIssues decidedGrantedDeniedRemandedOther
2018
80
0.0%10.0%86.3%3.8%
2019
114
0.0%14.9%82.5%2.6%
2020
84
0.0%8.3%88.1%3.6%
2021
118
0.0%9.3%87.3%3.4%
2022
127
0.8%6.3%87.4%5.5%
2023
138
0.0%3.6%93.5%2.9%
2024
128
0.8%10.2%85.9%3.1%
2025
133
0.0%11.3%87.2%1.5%

Each row counts issues (each condition the Board decided), so the shares add up to 100%. Other: dismissed, withdrawn or no clear outcome. Years with fewer than 50 issues are left out.

Evidence in granted and denied right ankle disability decisions

For each kind of supporting evidence: how often the Board granted the right ankle disability issue on the merits when the decision mentioned it, compared with decisions that did not. These are associations, not causes, and evidence is recorded per decision, not per issue.

In the recordDecisionsGranted when presentWhen absentDifference
Positive nexus opinion3076.7%0.0%+6.7 pts
Favorable VA exam2144.2%1.4%+2.7 pts
Lay statement9012.6%0.0%+2.6 pts
Private medical opinion3853.3%1.6%+1.8 pts
Treating physician opinion650.0%2.2%−2.2 pts
Combat service1000.0%2.3%−2.3 pts
  • The Board applied the benefit-of-the-doubt rule (38 CFR 3.102) in 100.0% of the decisions that granted right ankle disability.
  • The Board found the veteran's statements credible in 50.0% of grants and 19.6% of denials.

Negative evidence in the record

An unfavorable exam or a negative nexus opinion often sits in the same record as favorable evidence, and the Board weighs them against each other. So these rows show how often right ankle disability was still granted when the record contained the negative item, not that the item helped.

In the recordDecisionsGranted when presentWhen absentDifference
Negative nexus opinion5961.9%2.5%−0.6 pts
Unfavorable VA exam8381.3%6.7%−5.4 pts

Recent right ankle disability decisions

Granted

Denied

Rules that apply to right ankle disability claims

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How these numbers are calculated

  • Rates count decisions in which the Board decided a right ankle disability issue, by the outcome of that issue. Other issues in the same decision can have different outcomes.
  • “Granted on the merits” leaves out remands and dismissals. “All conditions” is the grant share across every condition issue in the data.
  • The data comes from CaseScribe's AI extraction of public BVA decisions (2017–2026) and can contain errors. It is updated automatically as new decisions are added.