Citation Nr: 18146894
Decision Date: 11/02/18	Archive Date: 11/01/18

DOCKET NO. 18-30 842
DATE:	November 2, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for right hip degenerative joint disease is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
The Veteran’s right hip degenerative joint disease is caused by his service-connected.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for entitlement to service connection for right hip degenerative joint disease have been satisfied. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1154(a), 5107; 38 C.F.R §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.310. 
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from November 1969 to June 1975.This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2015 rating decision from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).   The Veteran presented sworn testimony at a hearing before the undersigned in October 2018.  
Service Connection
The Board finds that service connection for right hip degenerative joint disease is warranted because the Veteran has been diagnosed with degenerative joint disease of the right hip and his treating doctors have opined that his right hip arthritis is due at least in part to his service-connected left hip disability.  See July 2015 Medical Opinions.  Dr. W.D. stated that in his medical opinion that the Veteran’s right hip disability is directly related to his service-connected left hip disability.  Dr. L.G.L. concurred, reasoning that “since [the Veteran] was disabled with his left hip because of the severe arthritis changes and subsequent need for total replacement arthroplasty, that his right hip had increased wear and tear and degeneration because of his need to favor the disabled left hip.”  The Board further notes that these opinions are supported by the reasoning of the May 2018 VA examiner, who noted that the Veteran reported a history of pressure on his right hip due to favoring his service-connected left hip for years prior to the total hip replacement of the left hip in 2007.  The May 2018 VA examiner further noted that according to medical literature, patients who already have had one hip replaced may be more likely to have the second hip operated on earlier during the development process of osteoarthritis.  The Board finds the July 2015 opinions of the Veteran’s treating doctors highly probative as they contain clear conclusions with supporting data and a reasoned medical explanation connecting the two.  See Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 295 (2008).  Thus, all the elements necessary to establish service connection for right hip arthritis on a secondary basis 
 
have been met.  See 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a); see also Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439, 448 (1995) (en banc).  

 
STEVEN D. REISS
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Tracie N. Wesner, Counsel