The veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral knee and hip disabilities, to include as secondary to a service-connected left fifth toe fracture, are being remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: The opinions provided by the VA podiatrist and orthopedic examiner were contradictory, and none of them reviewed the entire claims file or addressed the opinions from Dr. Riss and Dr. Palmieri regarding aggravation.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral knee disabilities, Bilateral hip disabilities
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 23, 2008
- Citation
- 0813368
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for further development, including obtaining updated treatment records and addendum medical opinions to clarify the effects of flareups and repeated use over time.
- Dismissed
The appeal was denied due to the untimely filing of the Board Appeal request.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his service-connected spine, hip and knee disabilities contributed substantially or materially to his death.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, functional abdominal pain syndrome (FAPS), and fibromyalgia. The initial disability ratings for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and migraine headaches were also denied. Some claims related to other disabilities were remanded.
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