10-11 730, 10-11 730

Veteran served in the U.S. Navy from April 1993 to July 1997 and appealed a denial of service connection for bilateral hip disorder.
Initial Board denial (Nov 2012) was vacated by the Court after a Joint Motion for Remand; the case underwent additional development and multiple remands to the RO/VA examiners.
VA treatment records show generalized joint pain at separation from service but no specific in-service hip complaints; the Veteran consistently reported hip/joint pain beginning in service.
VA and VAMC opinions conflicted: April 2009 and June 2011 VAMC providers attributed hip osteoarthritis to military service; an August 2014 VA examiner found no in-service hip condition and attributed hips to age; a June 2017 VA reviewer found hips not secondary to service-connected knee disabilities.
The Board found the evidence in equipoise on nexus and, applying the benefit-of-the-doubt rule, granted service connection for bilateral hip degenerative joint disease.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the Veteran's bilateral hip condition is service connected	Veteran: hip/joint pain began in service; evidence and lay statements support nexus	VA: no record of in-service hip condition; exam found age-related onset and no nexus; secondary nexus to knees unlikely	Granted — service connection established; benefit of the doubt applied

Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163 (Fed. Cir. 2004) (explains elements for service connection and relevancy of continuity of symptomatology)
Caluza v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 498 (Vet. App. 1995) (discusses requirements for a VA medical examination and probative value)
Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2013) (clarifies continuity of symptomatology for chronic diseases under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309)
Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (Vet. App. 1990) (explains the benefit-of-the-doubt rule in veterans claims)