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.
The deciding factor: The October 2024 VA examination did not provide a proper opinion on aggravation due to lack of rationale and consideration of all relevant evidence. Remand is necessary for an adequate medical opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- post-traumatic and degenerative arthritis of the left ankle status post supramalleolar and fibula osteotomy, right ankle degenerative arthritis, left hip degenerative arthritis, right hip degenerative arthritis
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 29, 2025
- Citation
- A25110523
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,249 · Granted: 37% (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 A25110523.
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 has determined that the Veteran's left hip degenerative arthritis is secondary to his service-connected right total hip replacement and grants this claim.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection for left hip degenerative arthritis and bilateral restless leg syndrome have been dismissed due to the concurrent submission of a Higher-Level Review request, which is not allowed while a Direct Review appeal is pending.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection were denied due to the late filing of the appeal requests, and thus the appeals are dismissed.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims of service connection for left and right knee disabilities are being remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding the relationship between his service-connected right ankle degenerative arthritis and his current knee conditions.
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