The Board remands the claims for service connection for left and right hip disorders as secondary to a service-connected thoracolumbar condition due to an insufficient medical opinion regarding causation or aggravation.
The deciding factor: An additional medical opinion is needed to address whether the Veteran's right and left hip strains were caused by or resulted from his service-connected thoracolumbar strain, including any worsening of functionality.
- Claimed conditions
- left hip disorder, right hip strain
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 18, 2025
- Citation
- A25053531
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.
- Granted
The Board grants service connection for a right hip strain, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran based on evidence showing an onset during service and continuous symptoms since then.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a left hip disorder to be further developed, including an examination.
- Denied
The appeal of the February 16, 2023, proposal to reduce the disability rating for right hip strain is dismissed. The Board also denied an increased disability rating for right hip strain.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for left knee strain, right knee strain, and right hip strain as secondary to the appellant's service-connected bilateral foot disabilities. The claim for a TMJ disorder was denied, along with other claims for increased ratings.
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