The Board has remanded the claim for service connection for a bilateral hip disability, including osteoarthritis, due to exposure to extreme cold temperatures during service. The Veteran's private and VA medical opinions have been reviewed, but they are inadequate as they do not address the specific details of her case, such as her reported symptoms in service and thereafter.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the November 2019 VA medical opinion is inadequate due to its lack of an adequate rationale and failure to discuss relevant medical history.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hip disability, osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 19, 2020
- Citation
- 20067421
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,902 · Granted: 11% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 20067421.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted an increase in PCAFC benefits to Level 2, finding that the Veteran requires continuous supervision or protection due to his cognitive decline and repeated falls.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to inadequate VA examination opinions and a failure to provide a VA examination for sleep apnea.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a right knee disability, finding that it is neither secondary to his service-connected right femoral neuropathy nor directly related to his active-duty service.
- Granted
The Veteran's lumbar spine condition, diagnosed as osteoarthritis and degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, has been granted service connection since it began in service following his fall in 1972.
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