The Board denied service connection for a left hip disability, to include as secondary to service-connected disabilities. It also denied initial and increased ratings for lumbar spine strain and left ankle sprain. The case was remanded for further development regarding bilateral hearing loss.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners did not find a direct or secondary relationship between the Veteran's current hip disability, back pain, and ankle sprain to his service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- left hip myofascial syndrome, lumbar spine strain, left ankle sprain
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 4, 2021
- Citation
- 21000088
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 21000088.
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 determined that the Veteran's current right and left ankle disabilities are related to repetitive parachute jumps during service, granting service connection for these conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for left ankle sprain, right ankle sprain, anxiety with situational type phobia, left hip strain, left knee strain, right knee strain, and lumbar strain are granted effective March 3, 2022.,An earlier effective date of March 3, 2022, is assigned for the Veteran's service connection claims.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for specially adapted housing or a special home adaptation grant due to lack of functional impairment. The Board has determined that a VA examination is needed to determine if any service-connected disability results in loss of use of both lower extremities, one lower extremity and one upper extremity, or residuals affecting balance and propulsion.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities prevented him from engaging in gainful employment as of January 1, 2019. The Board granted a TDIU effective from that date.
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