Citation Nr: 21061275 Decision Date: 10/01/21 Archive Date: 10/01/21 DOCKET NO. 09-10 759 DATE: October 1, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a left hip disorder is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty for training in the Georgia Army National Guard from July 1976 until his honorable discharge in October 1976. Subsequently, the Veteran served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps from July 1978 until his honorable discharge in March 1979. These matters come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2008 rating decision by the Decatur, Georgia Regional Office (RO) of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In September 2011, July 2013, April 2015, and June 2018, the Board remanded the case to the RO for further development. In an August 2020 decision, the Board denied the Veteran's claim for entitlement to service connection for a left hip disorder. The Veteran subsequently appealed the Board's decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In a January 2021 Joint Motion Partial Remand (Motion), the Court remanded the case to the Board for readjudication and to obtain an adequate VA examination. 1. Entitlement to service connection for a left hip disorder is remanded. Where VA provides the veteran with an examination in a service connection claim, the examination must be adequate. Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 311 (2007). The Veteran was afforded a VA examination in July 2015. However, although the examiner found that the Veteran did not have a left hip disability, the examiner did note mild degenerative joint disease in the Veteran's left hip. Furthermore, the July 2015 imaging studies confirmed mild degenerative joint disease in the Veteran's left hip and the July 2015 VA examiner noted abnormal range of motion and failed to consider the relevant evidence and the Veteran's prior medical history. Therefore, remand is required. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination for his left hip disability. The examiner must review the claims file. If a diagnosis cannot be provided but the Veteran's condition manifests in symptoms that cause functional impairment, then the examiner should consider them a "disability" for the purpose of providing the requested opinion(s) below. The examiner is asked to provide a response to the following: a. Is the Veteran's left hip disability at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) related to an injury sustained or disease contracted during his active military service? Provide a rationale to support the opinion(s). In providing the requested opinion, consider the Veteran's description of his/her in-service injury and symptoms as well as his post-service symptoms. If there is any medical reason to accept or reject the proposition that the Veteran's reported injury and symptoms in service and thereafter represented the onset of his/her current disability, this should be noted. Stated another way, do the Veteran's reports about his symptoms align with how the currently diagnosed disability is known to develop or are the Veteran's reports generally inconsistent with medical knowledge or implausible? b. Is left hip disability at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) proximately due to a service-connected disability? c. Is the left hip disability at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) aggravated, i.e., worsened beyond its natural progression, by a service-connected disability? Service connection is in effect for lumbar strain, bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy associated with lumbar strain, tinnitus, and bilateral hearing loss. M. Tenner Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board G. Deemer, Associate Counsel The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.