The Board has remanded the claims for a low back disability and bilateral hip disability, both secondary to service-connected left knee disability, due to insufficient medical opinion regarding the relationship between altered gait and these disabilities.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not address the medical research articles submitted by the Veteran's representative that associated the altered gait with hip and back disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- low back disability, bilateral hip disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20073628
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 claims for service connection for various disabilities to the AOJ for further development and consideration of evidence not previously considered.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the veteran's claimed conditions, including right shoulder arthritis, left shoulder arthritis, right hip condition, left hip condition, low back disability, and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, as there was no evidence of in-service injury or illness related to these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claim for service connection for a low back disability to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hemorrhoids, scars, low back disability, left ankle disability, left and right shoulder disabilities, and left and right hip disabilities as the evidence did not show that the Veteran had these conditions or related symptoms during the appeal period.
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