The Board has remanded the case due to concerns about VA care and treatment of a surgical site infection, which may have contributed to the Veteran's abnormal gait.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on the need for further examination and opinion regarding whether VA care proximately caused the continuance or natural progress of the Veteran's altered gait due to a failure to timely diagnose and properly treat the surgical site infection after a total hip arthroplasty.
- Claimed conditions
- abnormal gait
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 15, 2021
- Citation
- A21020028
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 A21020028.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, an abnormal gait, right ankle synovitis, right ankle scars, Morton's neuroma, right hammer toe, and a low back disability.
- Partly granted
Service connection for the veteran's right hip condition is granted, but service connection for an abnormal gait is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for GERD, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome of the left and right lower extremities, a disability manifested by shortness of breath, fatigue, cerebellar atrophy/ataxia, abnormal gait, abnormal balance, abnormal dexterity, speech impairment/dysarthria, and neurofibroma excision due to duty-to-assist errors. A new VA examination is required for each condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for abnormal gait, vertigo, TBI residuals, right knee disorder, and tension headaches have all been denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a finding of current disabilities or a link to service.,Specifically, the Board determined that an abnormal gait is not a compensable disability, vertigo was not diagnosed, there were no TBI residuals, the right knee disorder did not arise in service, and tension headaches were due to allergic rhinitis.
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