The Board remands the claims for service connection for right and left hip degenerative arthritis due to an inadequate VA examination.
The deciding factor: The February 2022 addendum medical opinion did not consider the Veteran's lay statements of chronic bilateral hip pain since active-duty service, which is a predecisional duty to assist error.
- Claimed conditions
- right hip degenerative arthritis, left hip degenerative arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 16, 2025
- Citation
- A25052722
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 granted service connection for right and left hip degenerative arthritis as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right ankle and knee conditions, and major depressive disorder as secondary to his service-connected knee and ankle conditions. The Board also granted a 10 percent rating for allergic rhinitis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for left ankle, right ankle, bilateral hip conditions and entitlement to specially adapted housing or special home adaptation grant as there is insufficient evidence to determine if the Veteran's pre-existing conditions were aggravated during his period of ACDUTRA.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a left hip disability as secondary to right foot disabilities, finding no evidence that the Veteran's left hip disability was caused or aggravated by his service-connected right foot disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board granted earlier effective dates for the grants of a noncompensable disability rating for left hip limitation of extension, a 20 percent disability rating for left hip limitation of flexion, and a 20 percent disability rating for left hip degenerative arthritis, but denied an earlier effective date for service connection for a painful right hip scar.
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