The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the Veteran's service-connected left hip and knee disabilities as a contributory cause of his death. The claim is being returned for further development.
The deciding factor: The VA physician did not provide an opinion on the severity of the Veteran's left hip and knee disabilities or whether these conditions rendered him less capable of resisting disease leading to his death.
- Claimed conditions
- left anterior femur myositis ossicans, left hip arthritis, left knee degenerative joint disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 5, 2021
- Citation
- 21061902
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,604 · Granted: 65% (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 21061902.
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 Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for a VA examination to assess the severity of his left knee disability, including without considering the ameliorative effects of medication.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for left hip arthritis, right hip arthritis, type II diabetes, right lower extremity neuropathy, left lower extremity neuropathy, and sleep apnea as they have become service-connected in other rating decisions.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and dismissed all other appeals related to various joint conditions.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals were withdrawn, and his claims for increased ratings and service connection were dismissed. The Board found no evidence of ankylosis or other disabling conditions that would warrant higher ratings.
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