Knee decisions — 2006

The Board has determined that the veteran's claims for service connection for right and left knee disorders should be remanded to allow for further development, including obtaining medical records and arranging for a VA examination.

The veteran's appeal has been withdrawn prior to a decision being made.

The veteran's right knee status post right ACL reconstruction and partial medial and lateral meniscectomy was granted a 10 percent evaluation effective July 9, 1997 for degenerative joint disease and mild instability.,The veteran's left knee patellofemoral syndrome remains denied.

The Board has remanded the veteran's claims for service connection for right and left knee disorders due to a lack of compliance with prior instructions, requiring a new VA examination.

The veteran's claimed disabilities, including low back pain, knee pain, shoulder tendonitis, elbow epicondylitis, insomnia and lack of energy, memory loss, persistent cough, headaches, and nasal passage build-up, are not service-connected. The Board found no evidence linking these conditions to his military service or the Persian Gulf War.

The veteran's appeal has been dismissed due to his request for withdrawal of the appeal with respect to several service-connected disabilities.,An initial 30 percent rating is granted for migraine headaches, meeting criteria for characteristic prostrating attacks.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claim for an increased evaluation of his right shoulder disability is denied. The maximum schedular rating of 40 percent is currently assigned, and there is no evidence to support a higher rating based on limitation of motion or other functional impairment.

The veteran's service-connected right knee injury with meniscectomy and total right knee arthroplasty is currently manifested by mild pain in the right knee; flexion is limited to 100 degrees or higher, there is no limitation of extension, and no current lateral instability or subluxation. The criteria for entitlement to a disability evaluation of in excess of 30 percent have not been met.

The Board denied service connection for muscle and joint aches, right knee tendonitis, and right shoulder strain due to lack of evidence linking these conditions to service.

The Board has granted service connection for chronic strain of the right hip, but denied entitlement to increased evaluation for facial acne scars and service connection for right knee and right ankle disabilities.

The Board has determined that the veteran's degenerative joint disease of the bilateral knees and back disorder are not related to service, nor were they due to a pre-existing condition. Therefore, service connection for these conditions is denied.

The veteran's claims for increased ratings for his right knee disability, degenerative joint disease of the right knee, and herpes simplex were denied. The RO assigned separate 10 percent ratings for each condition.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claimed dyshidrosis of the right foot, residuals of a spider bite, was not incurred in active military service and therefore denied service connection.

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have a back condition, right knee condition, left knee condition, or skin condition of the face as a result of his service. The claims for these conditions are therefore denied.

The Board denied service connection for nerve damage of the left side of the face and granted a 10 percent evaluation for chronic right knee strain. The veteran's claim was not about service connection at all.

The veteran's claims for service connection were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support reopening of his claim for hepatitis C and denied all other claims.

The Board has determined that the veteran's left knee disorder is not etiologically related to her service-connected right knee disorder.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for low back strain, right knee PFS, and atrial fibrillation. The criteria for a higher rating were not met in any of these cases.

The Board found that the veteran did not have a left knee disability in service or until many years after his separation from service, and thus denied entitlement to service connection for a left knee disability. The claim of whether new and material evidence has been presented sufficient to reopen a claim of entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric disability is also being remanded.

The veteran's left forearm joint pain is presumed to have been incurred as a result of his active service in the Gulf War, and he was granted presumptive service connection for this condition.