The Veteran's bilateral hip disabilities are being remanded due to duty-to-assist errors, and an addendum opinion is needed to determine if they are caused or aggravated by his service-connected DDD status post lumbar discectomy with spinal stenosis and spondylolisthesis and bilateral radiculopathy.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the December 2020 VA medical opinion was inadequate for adjudication purposes, as well as the October 2024 private opinions due to their speculative nature. Therefore, an addendum opinion is needed to address both causation and aggravation of the Veteran's bilateral hip disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis, right hip, Degenerative arthritis, left hip
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 4, 2026
- Citation
- A26019547
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 A26019547.
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 Veteran's claim for an increased rating in excess of 10 percent for degenerative arthritis, right hip, and a compensable rating for loss of flexion in the same condition were both denied by the Board.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional evidence is needed to properly assess the Veteran's hip disabilities, and thus remands the claims for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for her service-connected degenerative arthritis of the left hip due to inadequate examination reports and failure to provide an estimate of functional loss during flare-ups.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the right knee and right hip are proximately due to his service-connected residuals, left foot injury. As a result, these claims for secondary service connection have been granted.
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