Hip decisions — 2012

The Veteran's right hip disability is being remanded for further examination and opinion to determine its etiology, including whether it is related to service or a congenital defect.

The Board denied service connection for low back, cervical spine, right hip, and bilateral foot disabilities.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to obtain the Veteran's private treatment records and to provide him with a VA examination for his claimed disabilities. The appeal will be remanded to the RO/AMC for these actions.

The Board found no evidence of a chronic disability related to the Veteran's service and denied his claim for service connection.

The Board has granted service connection for residuals of cold injury to the bilateral feet, finding that the Veteran's symptoms are consistent with his active duty service in Korea.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current right leg, knee, hip, and back disabilities are not related to his service-connected residuals of a right ankle abrasion. The evidence does not support a finding that these conditions were incurred or aggravated during active duty.

The Veteran's back disability is granted service connection as it was noted during service and he has reported continuity of symptoms since then. The left leg, right hip, and right knee disabilities are remanded for further examination to determine their etiology.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's right knee, left knee, right hip, left hip, and low back disabilities are proximately due to his service-connected traumatic arthritis of the left ankle.

The Board found no evidence of current bilateral hip disability or foot disability that is related to service, and thus denied the Veteran's claims for these conditions.

The Board has dismissed the Veteran's service connection claims for low back disability, psychiatric disability, right hip disability, and right knee disability due to his failure to respond to requests for identifying information and releases for pertinent medical records within a year. The extraschedular rating claim for residuals of a fractured left medial malleolus was denied.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for right and left hip disabilities, as well as his claim for an increased evaluation for PTSD, are being remanded due to the receipt of additional pertinent service department records. The Veteran is also required to provide information about any non-VA medical care providers who have treated him since June 2008 for these conditions.

The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have current right knee, left knee, or right hip disabilities and therefore service connection for these conditions is denied.

The Board has remanded the service connection issues for further development and review. The Veteran is presumed to have a psychiatric disability (PTSD) as well as muscle aches and soreness due to service-connected disabilities, but no respiratory or sexual dysfunction was found. Hip, heel, and upper respiratory disabilities are not currently demonstrated.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims due to the need for additional development, including obtaining relevant medical records and determining whether his hip or knee disabilities may be related to service or a service-connected condition.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for bilateral foot, hip, and left knee disabilities due to a lack of evidence showing current disability related to service. The VA examiners opined that these conditions are not linked to service.

The Board found that the Veteran's current right hip disability did not have its clinical onset in service and is not otherwise related to active duty. Osteoarthritis of the right hip was not exhibited within the first post-service year, and the right hip disability was not incurred in or aggravated by his service connected residuals of a fracture of the right tibia and fibula.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining medical records and arranging for examinations to assess his service-connected conditions.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including scheduling a VA examination and issuing a Statement of the Case on the right ankle disability. The issues of service connection for right hip and knee disabilities are also inextricably intertwined with the right ankle claim.

The Board found that the Veteran's claimed disabilities were not incurred in or aggravated by service, and denied his claims for service connection.

The Board found that the Veteran's right and left hip conditions, as well as his diabetes mellitus, were not incurred or aggravated by active service. The preexisting conditions were determined to be non-service connected.