Knee decisions — 2014

The Board found no evidence to support the Veteran's claims of service connection for bilateral knee and right foot disabilities, as there was no medical nexus between his current conditions and his active duty. The long period without any complaints or diagnoses post-service also weighed against these claims.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining an opinion regarding whether the Veteran's left knee disability is aggravated by his service-connected left foot disability.

The Board denied service connection for a bilateral knee disorder, bilateral shoulder disorder, and chronic headache disability as not related to service or service-connected conditions.,There is no evidence of current disabilities that are directly related to service.

The Veteran's right knee disorder has been productive of symptomatic removal of semilunar cartilage and flexion limited to 120 degrees without objective evidence of pain upon motion or additional functional loss. The claim for service connection for a left knee disorder, secondary to the service-connected right knee disorder, is reopened.

The Board granted higher initial ratings for the Veteran's right and left knee disabilities, with a specific rating of 30 percent for the right knee disability since April 11, 2011. The effective date for these ratings is set at April 11, 2011.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to a scheduling issue for a videoconference hearing. The issues of service connection and rating for knee disabilities are pending.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development due to an inadequate April 2013 VA examination. The Veteran's claims of service connection for degenerative arthritis of the hips and knees are pending.

The Board has determined that the Veteran incurred left knee injuries during ACDUTRA and active duty, which are service-connected. However, there is no evidence of frostbite of bilateral feet in service or currently diagnosed.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected right subtrochanteric femur fracture, sciatic nerve palsy of the right lower extremity, and right knee disability have been denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating for any of these conditions.

The Board found that the Veteran's hip and ankle disabilities are not causally or etiologically related to service, nor were they caused or aggravated by his service-connected right knee disabilities.,VA examinations did not find any evidence of a right hip or right ankle condition during active service. The examiner also noted that medical literature does not support the contention that the Veteran's hip and ankle disabilities are caused by or result from his right knee disabilities.

The Board has remanded the claims for additional development due to inadequate VA examinations, and the issues of service connection are now pending.

The Veteran's claims for service connection have been denied for low back disability, bilateral hearing loss, left knee disability, right knee disability, and breast lump. The claim for service connection for fibromyalgia has been granted.,PTSD was initially granted with a higher rating from July 31, 2007 to November 11, 2010.

The Veteran's left knee disorder has been rated at 10 percent, the minimum rating available under Diagnostic Code 5260 for limitation of flexion to 45 degrees. The Board finds that this is the appropriate evaluation given the current clinical findings and the lack of additional disability.

The Veteran is service-connected for multiple disabilities, including bipolar disorder and head injury residuals. The Board finds that the Veteran's unemployability is due to his service-connected psychiatric disability (bipolar disorder), and grants a TDIU.

The Veteran's DJD of the right knee was productive of painful motion, warranting a 10 percent disability rating.

The Board has granted the Veteran's request to reopen his claim for service connection for a left knee disability and has determined that there is sufficient evidence to establish a link between his current condition and his in-service injuries, granting him service connection.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's left knee patellar tendinitis, right knee osteoarthritis, and left shoulder osteoarthritis are related to his military service. As a result, the claims for these disabilities have been granted.

The Board has determined that there is no current evidence of a right or left knee disability, and the Veteran's service connection claims for these conditions have been denied.

The Board has determined that the appellant's right and left knee conditions, including surgery scars on both knees, were neither incurred in nor related to service. The evidence does not support a finding of service connection for these conditions.

The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for left and right knee arthritis have been dismissed due to his withdrawal of the appeals prior to the promulgation of a decision.