The Board has determined that the VA examination opinions regarding both the left hip disability and back disability are inadequate, as they did not address whether the Veteran's service-connected left knee patellofemoral syndrome aggravated his claimed disabilities. The case is therefore being remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner’s opinions were insufficient in addressing the issue of aggravation of the Veteran's hip and back disabilities by his service-connected left knee disability.
- Claimed conditions
- left trochanteric bursitis (claimed as left hip disability), segmental dysfunction and nonallopathic lesions of the thoracic spine with sacral ankylosis (claimed as back disability)
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19183818
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 claim for a medical opinion on whether plantar fasciitis was aggravated by active duty training.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 30 percent rating for the Veteran's service-connected migraine headaches, but no greater.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral pes planus based on aggravation of a preexisting disability, but denied service connection for right and left knee disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for GERD as it was aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, but denied service connection for ED due to a lack of evidence showing a current diagnosis. The issue of entitlement to service connection for anxiety is remanded.
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