The Board has determined that the VA examination and opinion are inadequate for both left hip osteoarthritis and right hip arthritis. The Veteran's claims of entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for his left hip osteoarthritis and service connection for his claimed right hip arthritis, including as secondary to his service-connected right knee disability, are remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
The deciding factor: The VA examination and opinion were inadequate as they did not consider all of the Veteran's symptomology associated with his service-connected left hip osteoarthritis and claimed right hip arthritis. The examiner also failed to provide a reasoned medical explanation regarding the diagnosis and severity of the conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- osteoarthritis, left hip, arthritis, right hip
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 6, 2024
- Citation
- A24053433
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 A24053433.
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 Veteran's claims for service connection for osteoarthritis, left hip; greater trochanteric pain syndrome, left hip; and spinal stenosis, thoracolumbar spine were denied as there is no evidence of a current disability related to her time in service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for osteoarthritis, left hip as secondary to his service-connected lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease and arthritis is being remanded due to a duty to assist error.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for osteoarthritis in both the left and right hip as secondary to a service-connected bilateral knee condition, citing no causal link between the conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased evaluations for various orthopedic conditions, finding that the evidence did not support a compensable evaluation under applicable rating criteria.
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