Osteoarthritis (degenerative arthritis) decisions — 2019

The Veteran's TDIU claim is granted due to the combined effects of his service-connected disabilities, which render him unemployable.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's knee disabilities and their relationship to his military service. The AOJ is instructed to obtain medical opinions on these issues.

The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine was found to have manifested within one year after his separation from service, and thus is presumed to be related to his military service. The Board granted service connection for this condition.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, bilateral knee disorder, and bilateral ankle disorder are being remanded due to incomplete service records and need for additional medical examinations.

The Veteran's right hip osteoarthritis resulted in painful flexion limited to 20 degrees from December 23, 2011. A rating of 30 percent is granted for this condition.

The Veteran's claims for service connection have been dismissed due to his withdrawal of the appeals.

The Veteran has withdrawn his appeals for service connection for migraine headaches, a compensable rating for right hip degenerative arthritis with limitation of abduction/adduction/internal rotation, a compensable rating for right hip degenerative arthritis with limitation of extension, and a rating higher than 10 for right hip degenerative arthritis with limitation of flexion.

The Veteran's service connection claim for a left ankle disorder is granted due to the continuity of symptoms after service, meeting the requirements for presumptive service connection for arthritis.

The Veteran's claims for annual clothing allowances were denied as there was no evidence that any of his claimed appliances or medications caused wear and tear to his clothing in the 2012 calendar year.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for bilateral hip osteoarthritis and right lower extremity radiculopathy due to inadequate opinions in the August 2017 addendum. The VA examiner is required to provide an opinion on whether the service-connected lumbar spine and/or bilateral radiculopathy disabilities cause or aggravate the Veteran’s bilateral hip osteoarthritis.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including coronary artery disease and knee conditions, have rendered him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment.

The Veteran's claim for an increased disability rating for his service-connected degenerative arthritis with intervertebral disc syndrome of the lumbar spine was denied, and the effective date is set at July 14, 2015.

The Veteran's claims for increased disability ratings for thoracolumbar degenerative disc disease, right hip osteoarthritis, left hip osteoarthritis, right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome, and left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome are being remanded due to the need for additional examinations to comply with a recent Court of Appeals for Veterans' Claims (Court) opinion.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further development regarding service connection for bilateral hearing loss, pes planus, and degenerative arthritis of the spine.

The Veteran's claims for service connection were denied, as the submitted evidence did not raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claims. The claim for an increased evaluation was granted but at a low level.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development to determine the current severity of his back disability and radiculopathy.

The Board has remanded the cases for further development and examination as there are insufficient medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's spine disability and tinea versicolor, and to obtain updated VA treatment records.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities (PTSD, Tension Headaches, Essential Tremor, Dermographia) have rendered him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar spine disability and left lower extremity radiculopathy are remanded due to the need for additional examinations to assess current severity.

The Veteran seeks an earlier effective date for the award of a 20% rating for limitation of extension of his right knee. The Board finds that no such claim was pending prior to April 20, 2015 and thus denies the request for an earlier effective date.