The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims of service connection for a back condition, bilateral hip conditions, and left knee conditions due to his service-connected right knee condition. The reasons include insufficient medical opinions based on lack of contemporaneous records and failure to consider the Veteran's lay statements regarding overcompensating.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the VA examiners' opinions were inadequate as they did not provide sufficient rationale for their conclusions, particularly in relation to the Veteran's lay statements about his symptoms related to his service-connected right knee condition.
- Claimed conditions
- back condition, bilateral hip condition, left knee condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 6, 2020
- Citation
- 20072009
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection were dismissed due to untimely filing of the Board Appeal requests.
- Partly granted
The appeal for service connection for allergic rhinitis and lumbosacral or cervical strain was dismissed due to untimeliness, while the other issues were remanded for further evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for a back condition, finding no evidence of a nexus between the in-service incident and the current disability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right and left knee conditions, denied a rating in excess of 40 percent for right lower extremity sciatic radiculopathy, and denied special monthly compensation based on loss of use of a lower extremity.
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