The Veteran's claim for service connection for arthritis of the bilateral knees, hips, and shoulders is being remanded due to inadequate medical opinions regarding the etiology of his conditions. The claims file will be returned to the VA examiner who provided the September 2014 opinion for additional assessments and opinions.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that further development is needed to address the nature and etiology of the Veteran's claimed bilateral knee, hip, and shoulder conditions due to inadequate medical opinions in the current record.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the bilateral knees, arthritis of the hips, arthritis of the shoulders
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 26, 2018
- Citation
- 1818362
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 1818362.
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 claims for service connection for arthritis of the cervical spine, bilateral knees, bilateral elbows, and bilateral shoulders to obtain new VA medical opinions that adequately address whether these conditions are related to military service or aggravated by service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The appeal for a compensable rating for right ear hearing loss was denied, and the appeals for service connection for arthritis of the hips, sleep apnea, respiratory condition (including asthma), and tinnitus were dismissed.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim of service connection for bilateral hearing loss has been reopened and is granted.,The Veteran's claims of service connection for migraine headaches, arthritis of the shoulders, knees, hips, and back have all been denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to inadequate examinations and requests for information regarding the qualifications of the examiner. The claims will be re-adjudicated after further examination.
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