The Board remands the matter for an addendum medical opinion to determine if the Veteran's left hip disability was caused or aggravated by his service-connected foot disabilities.
The deciding factor: The May 2023 VA medical opinion is inadequate because it did not address whether the Veteran's left hip disability was aggravated by his service-connected foot disabilities, and failed to provide a comprehensive rationale for its conclusions.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the left hip
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 2, 2025
- Citation
- A25030415
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 denied initial ratings in excess of 10 percent for degenerative arthritis of the right and left hips, but granted a 10 percent rating from April 12, 2011, for both hip conditions.
- Partly granted
The appeal for higher ratings of sciatic and femoral nerve radiculopathies was dismissed, while the claims for service connection of degenerative arthritis and avascular necrosis of both hips were remanded.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right lower extremity sciatica associated with the Veteran's service-connected lumbosacral spine strain, but remanded claims for service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and sleep apnea.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his lung cancer was related to his service-connected melanoma.
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