BVA decisions by condition

Right foot disability: BVA grant rates and what wins

From 2017 to 2026, the Board of Veterans' Appeals decided a right foot disability issue in 540 decisions. It granted the right foot disability issue in 0.2% of them, below the 19.4% grant rate for all conditions, denied it in 9.6%, and remanded it in 88.0%. Counting only decisions on the merits (granted or denied), 1.9% were granted.

From Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions: appeals, not VA's first decisions. Issue-level outcomes.

Decisions

540

2017–2026

Granted

0.2%

All conditions: 19.4%

Granted on the merits

1.9%

Granted ÷ (granted + denied)

Remanded

88.0%

Denied: 9.6%

At a glance

  • Positive nexus opinion: 7.7% granted on the merits when in the record, 0.0% without. Details
  • Private medical opinion: 5.6% granted on the merits when in the record, 0.0% without. Details
  • Issues granted: 0.0% in 2019, 0.0% in 2025. Details

Evidence in granted and denied right foot disability decisions

For each kind of supporting evidence: how often the Board granted the right foot 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 opinion1547.7%0.0%+7.7 pts
Private medical opinion2075.6%0.0%+5.6 pts
Lay statement4792.4%0.0%+2.4 pts
Favorable VA exam1080.0%2.1%−2.1 pts
Combat service490.0%2.2%−2.2 pts
  • The Board applied the benefit-of-the-doubt rule (38 CFR 3.102) in 100.0% of the decisions that granted right foot disability.
  • The Board found the veteran's statements credible in 100.0% of grants and 13.5% 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 foot disability was still granted when the record contained the negative item, not that the item helped.

In the recordDecisionsGranted when presentWhen absentDifference
Negative nexus opinion3164.2%0.0%+4.2 pts
Unfavorable VA exam4282.9%0.0%+2.9 pts

Recent right foot disability decisions

Granted

Denied

Citation Nr. 20010221Evan M. Deichert · 2020

Symptoms consistent with moderate bilateral foot injuries.; Did not chronically compromise weight bearing.; Criteria for rating higher than 10% not met.

Right foot disability outcomes by year

YearIssues decidedGrantedDeniedRemandedOther
2019
60
0.0%13.3%85.0%1.7%
2020
55
0.0%14.5%85.5%0.0%
2021
63
0.0%9.5%87.3%3.2%
2022
74
1.4%6.8%91.9%0.0%
2023
80
0.0%12.5%82.5%5.0%
2024
81
0.0%6.2%91.4%2.5%
2025
53
0.0%5.7%94.3%0.0%

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.

Why the Board granted or denied right foot disability

Most common reasons in grants

    Most common reasons in denials

    1. Criteria for rating higher than 10 percent not met1
    2. Did not chronically compromise weight bearing1
    3. Symptoms consistent with moderate bilateral foot injuries1

    Numbers are decisions that gave the reason. Reasons are short phrases extracted by AI from each decision; common wordings of the same reason are grouped. Benefit of the doubt is reported above.

    Rules that apply to right foot disability claims

    Research your right foot disability case

    Narrow by year, judge, evidence or secondary condition, read the decisions, and export a research memo.

    What evidence wins right foot disability claims at the Board?Show right foot disability decisions granted on a secondary basis and why.What does M21-1 say about right foot disability?
    Open VA Law Explorer

    How these numbers are calculated

    • Rates count decisions in which the Board decided a right foot 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.

    Where this data comes from

    1. Claim
    2. Regional office decides
    3. Veteran appeals
    4. Board decides
    5. Granted · Denied · Remanded: back to the regional office

    Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions show how VA's highest review body applies 38 CFR and weighs evidence on contested claims.

    Each one is an appeal: a regional office decided the claim first, and the veteran appealed. So these rates describe the Board, not a veteran's odds at the regional office, where most claims are decided and whose decisions are not public.

    More on what Board decisions can and cannot tell you