The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for additional VA examinations to assess the current severity of his service-connected left knee, left hip, and left heel disabilities. The case will be returned to the Board after these examinations are conducted.
The deciding factor: Additional evidence (VA treatment records) needs to be obtained and a new examination is required as there may have been changes in the Veteran's disability status since the last VA examination.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis, left knee, Degenerative arthritis, left hip, Residuals of injury, left heel, Superficial, unstable left heel skin graft site
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 14, 2017
- Citation
- 1704401
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 1704401.
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 Veteran's bilateral hip disabilities are being remanded due to duty-to-assist errors, and an addendum opinion is needed to determine if they are caused or aggravated by his service-connected DDD status post lumbar discectomy with spinal stenosis and spondylolisthesis and bilateral radiculopathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional evidence is needed to properly assess the Veteran's hip disabilities, and thus remands the claims for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for her service-connected degenerative arthritis of the left hip due to inadequate examination reports and failure to provide an estimate of functional loss during flare-ups.
- Granted
The Veteran's appeal for increased ratings for his service-connected degenerative arthritis, right hip and left hip is denied. The Veteran's appeal for secondary service connection for a right knee disability due to his service-connected left knee disability is granted.
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