The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for various hip, knee, and ankle disabilities due to potential pre-decisional duty to assist errors in obtaining adequate VA opinions regarding secondary service connection.
The deciding factor: The Board found that prior VA opinions were based on inaccurate factual premises and did not address the possibility of aggravation by the service-connected foot disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- left hip trochanteric pain syndrome with degenerative arthritis and osteopenia, right hip trochanteric pain syndrome with degenerative arthritis and osteopenia, left knee strain, right knee strain with degenerative arthritis, left ankle collateral ligament sprain with tendonitis and degenerative arthritis, bilateral pes planus
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 14, 2024
- Citation
- A24025146
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 A24025146.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Appellant's requests for earlier effective dates for his service connection for bilateral pes planus and gynecomastia scar residuals, finding that the earliest possible effective dates are the dates of receipt of the claims.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeals for service connection of various conditions due to untimely filing of the appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee strain, right knee strain, shin splints of the right leg, and shin splints of the left leg are being remanded due to a failure to obtain VA examinations and medical nexus opinions.
- Denied
The Veteran's hypertension, bilateral pes planus, PTSD, and anxiety were all denied as service connection was not established based on the evidence of record.,Bilateral pes planus was denied due to lack of current diagnosis.
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