The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to insufficient medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's hip, knee and ankle conditions are secondary to his service-connected lumbar spine condition.
The deciding factor: The July 2018 VA examiner did not provide an opinion on aggravation of the left hip sprain, left knee degenerative joint disease, or left ankle degenerative joint disease by the Veteran's service-connected right lower extremity conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- left hip sprain, left knee degenerative joint disease, left ankle degenerative joint disease
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 23, 2018
- Citation
- 18144022
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 18144022.
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 Veteran's claims for increased ratings of his bilateral knee disabilities due to a need for an additional VA examination that addresses the level of functional impairment absent the beneficial effects of medication.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for left and right hip sprains due to the lack of evidence showing current disabilities, while remanding claims for right knee pain and tinnitus for further development.
- Partly granted
The Board denied earlier effective dates for the award of service connection and denied increased ratings for various disabilities, but granted a separate rating for left upper extremity radiculopathy from October 20, 2020.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, back disability, bilateral achilles tendonitis, gout, diabetes mellitus, type 2 (DMII), obstructive sleep apnea, and an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include anxiety and depression. The Board denied increased ratings for right and left knee degenerative joint disease, separate ratings for instability of the knees, a separate rating for residuals of a right knee meniscectomy, and service connection for bilateral leg pain, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic sinus disability, respiratory disability due to exposure to asbestos, heart murmur, irregular heartbeat, and seizures.
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