Knee decisions — 2010

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for a hearing before a Member of the Board at the RO level.

The Board has dismissed the Veteran's appeal for service connection for a left knee disorder due to his failure to respond to requests for additional evidence.

The Board has granted the appellant's claim of entitlement to service connection for post-traumatic arthritis of the right knee, finding that reasonable doubt should be resolved in his favor.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining service personnel records and determining whether new evidence is sufficient to reopen a claim of service connection for a left knee disability.

The Board has determined that there is no current diagnosis of a left knee disability and insufficient evidence to establish service connection for the Veteran's claimed condition.

The Veteran's appeal has been withdrawn, and the Board is dismissing the case.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims for service connection for right knee and low back disorders based on new evidence provided by a private physician. The case is now remanded to provide appropriate VA examinations and opinions.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his knee disabilities and service connection for migraine headaches due to potential issues with the adequacy of the examination reports, incomplete medical records, and consideration of a temporary total convalescence rating.

The RO denied increased ratings for the appellant's right shoulder, wrist, knee and ankle disabilities.,The evidence did not meet the criteria for higher disability ratings.

The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection were denied. The April 1953 rating decision denying service connection for a back disorder was not found to contain CUE.

The Board has determined that service connection is warranted for the Veteran's left ankle disorder, but denied his claims of service connection for other conditions.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected left and right knee disabilities were denied. The VA determined that the evidence did not support a higher rating than 10 percent under applicable diagnostic codes.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development to determine if his service-connected disabilities render him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's service-connected residuals of a right ankle injury warrant an increased rating to 20 percent, and his service-connected residuals of a right knee injury warrant a rating of 30 percent for limitation of extension. The current ratings are appropriate based on the severity of the disabilities as described in the medical records.

The Veteran's appeal has been withdrawn, and the Board dismissed the case due to this withdrawal.

The Board is reopening the claims for service connection for hypertension, skin disability, right shoulder disability, left shoulder disability, and right knee disability on the basis of new and material evidence. The claims will be remanded to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC) for further development before readjudication.

The Veteran's nonservice-connected disabilities do not render him so helpless as to need regular aid and attendance in the activities of daily living, thus denying his claim for special monthly pension based on the need for aid and attendance.

The Board has granted a separate evaluation of 10 percent for instability of the right knee under DC 5257, subject to the controlling regulations applicable to the payment of monetary benefits.

The Veteran's initial evaluations for his left knee disorder and low back disorder were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher evaluation.

The VA has denied the claims for increased ratings for left knee patella femoral pain syndrome, right knee patella femoral pain syndrome, and left shoulder tendonitis. The evidence does not support a higher rating for any of these conditions.