The Board has remanded the cases for an additional medical opinion to determine if the Veteran's left shoulder and bilateral hip disabilities are related to service, including a foxhole incident in service. The opinions should also address whether these disabilities are secondary to his service-connected back disability.
The deciding factor: An expert medical opinion is needed to assess the relationship between the Veteran's current diagnoses and his military service, particularly the foxhole incident.
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder bursitis, left hip bursitis, right hip degenerative joint disease, left hip degenerative joint disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 28, 2019
- Citation
- 19106282
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right and left hip bursitis as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected bilateral pes cavus, but denied an increased rating in excess of 10 percent for degenerative arthritis of the spine with lower back strain.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for hypogonadism with fatigue, GERD, and a right ear hearing loss disability. The Veteran's left rib disability was denied, and the ratings for his left shoulder injury, left hip bursitis, impairment of the left thigh, left knee retropatellar pain syndrome limitation of extension, and left ankle sprain were either granted or denied with specific rating percentages.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, dismissing or denying all appeals.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for increased ratings and service connection, finding no persuasive evidence that the criteria for increased evaluations were met prior to the respective claim or examination dates.
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