Knee decisions — 2014

The Board has granted service connection for a left knee disability and right knee arthritis, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are related to his military service, with aggravation of the right knee condition due to favoring the left knee post-surgery.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's left and right knee disabilities are not related to his active service, as there is no evidence of a nexus between his current conditions and his military service. The VA medical opinions indicate that obesity and diabetes mellitus, rather than any in-service injury or exposure, have contributed to the development of his osteoarthritis.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's knee, hand, and back disabilities are not related to service. The claims for these conditions have been denied.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining VA outpatient records and ensuring the duty to assist has been satisfied.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU are being remanded due to the need for additional examination of his bilateral knee disabilities. The effective date issue is also pending.

The Board has ordered a remand to obtain an addendum opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's recurrent left leg thrombosis and her service-connected left leg disabilities. The appeal is currently in remanded status.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has not been presented to reopen the claims for service connection for right knee disability and left knee disability, as the Veteran's contentions are essentially reiterating what was said at the time of the February 2003 decision.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining Social Security Administration records and providing the Veteran with proper VCAA notice. The issues of service connection for a bilateral knee disability and hepatitis C are also being remanded as they were not properly adjudicated on their de novo basis.

The Veteran's right ear hearing loss is related to service and the Board finds that he meets the criteria for service connection.

The Board has determined that a VA examination is needed to address the Veteran's claim for service connection of his right knee disability. The Veteran contends he sustained an injury during military service in Germany and has experienced symptoms since then.

The Board has remanded the case for further development due to unclear examination reports and need for a new VA examination.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including scheduling VA examinations to determine the nature and etiology of his left knee disability and current severity of his service-connected bilateral hearing loss.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for a Board hearing. The claims of service connection for left leg/knee disorder and acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and depression, are pending.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not preclude him from securing and following substantially gainful employment consistent with his educational and work background.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and left knee bursitis with degenerative compartmental narrowing, finding that there was no evidence of chronic disease or continuous symptoms during service. The Board also found that the current conditions were not related to service.

The Board has decided to remand the case for further development and examination, as there are insufficient medical opinions regarding the service connection of hip and knee disabilities.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a right knee disorder, bilateral hearing loss disability, tinnitus, left ankle disorder, left shoulder disorder, and neck/cervical spine disorder. The reasons are provided in the decision.

The Veteran's right knee strain resulted in functional loss without painful motion, with flexion of the knee to no worse than 133 degrees and extension to no worse than zero degrees. The Board found that his symptoms did not warrant a higher rating as he had no instability or subluxation, ankylosis, cartilage dislocation or removal, impairment of the tibia or fibula, or genu recurvatum.

The Board found that the Veteran does not have a current right knee disorder related to his service or service-connected left knee disorder.

The Veteran's claims for higher ratings for his right and left knee DJD have been granted, with a combined rating of 10 percent. The TDIU claim is also granted.