The Board has remanded the claims for lower back disability, bilateral ankle condition, bilateral knee condition (secondary to bilateral ankle condition), and bilateral hip condition due to inadequate medical opinions and potential outstanding VA treatment records.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided are insufficient and there may be relevant VA treatment records that have not been obtained.
- Claimed conditions
- {"condition_name":"lower back disability","claimed_conditions":["lower back spasms","arthritis of the lower back"]}, {"condition_name":"bilateral ankle condition","claimed_conditions":["left ankle injury during basic training","ankle sprain in service"]}, {"condition_name":"bilateral knee condition","claimed_conditions":[]}, {"condition_name":"bilateral hip condition","claimed_conditions":[]}
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19180056
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.
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- Granted
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