The Board remands the claims for service connection for left and right hip joint replacements due to duty-to-assist errors, including incomplete documentation of military service dates and a lack of medical opinion addressing the Veteran's contention that his congenital hip condition was worsened by military service.
The deciding factor: The remand is necessary to obtain additional information regarding the Veteran's complete military service dates and an addendum medical opinion addressing his theory of entitlement.
- Claimed conditions
- left hip joint replacement, right hip joint replacement
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 5, 2025
- Citation
- A25040910
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,188 · Granted: 23% (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 A25040910.
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 Veteran's appeal of his disability rating decision, finding that the appeal was untimely filed and no good cause for extension was provided.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for left hip joint replacement and osteoarthritis of the MCP and CMC joints of the right thumb, but denied service connection for bradycardia.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 10 percent rating for the Veteran's right hip flexion limitation of motion and a 70 percent rating for his right hip joint replacement, but denied higher ratings for other conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an adequate VA examination to address the etiology of the Veteran's right hip joint replacement.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.