The Board remands the appellant's claims for service connection for bilateral hip and knee disabilities to the AOJ for correction of pre-decisional duty to assist errors.

The deciding factor: The absence of a VA examination and medical opinion, given the appellant's lay statements and private medical evaluation, constitutes a pre-decisional duty to assist error that must be corrected.

Claimed conditions

left hip disability, right hip disability, left knee disability, right knee disability

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

None in this decision

Decision date

March 3, 2025

Citation

A25019152

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