Knee decisions — 2014

The Veteran requested to withdraw his appeal, and the Board has dismissed it.

The Veteran's cause of death, hypertensive cardiovascular disease, is not service-connected as it did not result from his military service. The Board finds that the Veteran's service-connected conditions were not a contributory cause to his death.

The Veteran seeks service connection for his right knee disability, which he claims is secondary to his service-connected left knee disability. The Board has ordered a remand due to inadequate opinions regarding the relationship between his right and left knee disabilities.

The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for his right knee disability was denied as the range of motion in his right knee, at worst, is from 0 to 90 degrees, even when factoring in pain. There is no objective indication of knee instability or other separately compensable pathology.

The Board found that the Veteran's current right knee disability is not related to his military service and denied his claim for service connection.

The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for hypertension and a bilateral knee disorder to the RO for additional action due to missing VA clinical documentation.

The appeal has been dismissed as the appellant withdrew their claims prior to a decision being made.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's right knee disability did not manifest during service, is not causally or etiologically related to service, and is not caused by or aggravated by a service-connected disability. Therefore, the claim for service connection for a right knee disability is denied.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for hypertension and various knee, leg, hip, and buttocks disabilities. The Veteran was not granted any increased ratings for his right knee or left hip disabilities.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his left ankle and bilateral knee disabilities, finding that the evidence did not show more than moderate limitation of motion in either joint.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection for residuals of cold weather injuries, PTSD, bilateral knee disability, and heart disability have been denied.,Service connection was not granted for epididymitis as new evidence did not raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim.

The Board found no evidence of PTSD and denied the Veteran's claim for service connection.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for left hip and left knee conditions are being remanded due to the need for additional medical examination and development of records.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities are of such nature and severity as to prevent him from securing or following substantially gainful employment, warranting a TDIU.

The Veteran's left calf muscle atrophy and weakness were incurred in service, but there is no evidence of a current hearing loss disability for VA purposes. The Board finds that the Veteran has an acquired psychiatric disability, to include PTSD, related to his service.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has not been submitted to reopen the Veteran's claim of service connection for bilateral knee chondromalacia. The claims for acid reflux and bilateral lower extremity nerve damage have also been denied.

The Veteran's claims for cervical spine and right knee disabilities were denied as there was no evidence of a service-connected disability. The claim for an acquired psychiatric disability was also denied due to lack of credible supporting evidence that the claimed in-service stressor actually occurred.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD. The remaining issues on appeal are addressed in the REMAND portion of the decision below and are REMANDED to the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office.

The Veteran's right knee degenerative joint disease with total right knee arthroplasty is established as service-connected due to a presumptive basis based on the chronicity of his condition during or within one year after his second period of active service.

The Veteran's appeal for a temporary total evaluation due to treatment of his service-connected right knee condition was withdrawn during the July 2013 Board hearing. The case is being remanded for further development including VA examinations and readjudication.