The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hip and knee DJD, as well as lumbar spine DDD due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the relationship between these conditions and his active duty service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner’s opinions were inadequate and there is no evidence distinguishing the Veteran's symptoms from those of his service-connected fibromyalgia.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (left hip), Degenerative Joint Disease (right hip), Degenerative Joint Disease (left knee), Degenerative Joint Disease (right knee), Degenerative Disc Disease of the Lumbar Spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2019
- Citation
- 19104990
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder due to a lack of new and relevant evidence, and remanded the claim for an increased rating for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted earlier effective dates and higher initial ratings for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, service connection for polysubstance abuse disorder secondary to a service-connected disability, and a TDIU.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for GERD and increased ratings for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, right lower extremity radiculopathy, and left lower extremity radiculopathy. The appeal for a compensable initial rating for COPD and scar of the left shoulder was withdrawn. Other appeals were denied.
- Denied
The Veteran's request to revise or reverse a January 20, 2015, rating decision that denied service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on the basis of clear and unmistakable error was denied. The Board also remanded entitlement to service connection for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine.
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