Knee decisions — 2017

The Board found that the Veteran's current left knee disorder, diagnosed as osteoarthritis, did not manifest during his period of service and is not otherwise related to his military service.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's left knee disability is not related to his active service or a service-connected right ankle disability, and thus denied the claim for service connection.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's right lower extremity disability, including his service-connected right knee condition and other aspects of the limb, does not meet the criteria for a higher rate of special monthly compensation (SMC) based on loss of use.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including scheduling a videoconference hearing for issues of service connection for bilateral knee conditions and a lumbar spine condition. The issue of service connection for sciatica remains inextricably intertwined with the pending claim.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for a left knee disability and lumbar spine disability, both claimed as secondary to his service-connected partial tear left Achilles tendon due to insufficient explanation in the September 2011 VA examination.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's diagnosed degenerative joint disease of the right and left knees is not related to service or any incident therein, and was not manifested to a compensable degree within one year following service discharge.

The Board has granted service connection for left knee disability and right knee disability, but denied hearing loss and tinnitus.

The Veteran's claims for right hip, knee and leg shortening disabilities are being remanded as additional VA examinations are needed to determine their etiology. The service connection theory is secondary due to the service-connected right leg disability.

The Board has found that more development is necessary prior to final adjudication of the claims on appeal, including a new VA examination for the Veteran's left ankle disability and an opinion regarding whether his bilateral knee disability is related to his service-connected left ankle disability.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for a new VA examination to assess the current severity of his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities, including testing for pain on both active and passive motion.

The Veteran has withdrawn his appeal, and the Board does not have jurisdiction to review it.

The Veteran's service-connected DJD of the left knee and right knee were rated, with some adjustments made for instability. The Veteran received a 100% rating for his status post total left knee replacement from July 12, 2013 to September 1, 2014, followed by a 30% rating thereafter. For the period prior to July 12, 2013, he received separate ratings for instability of the left knee and arthritis of the right knee.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for additional development, including obtaining VA treatment records and scheduling a spine examination. The issues of increased rating for right knee disability and service connection for lumbar spine disorder are pending.

The Veteran's service-connected medial meniscus tear of the right knee resulted in a hinged brace, which wore through his clothing. The Board granted an annual clothing allowance for 2013 based on this issue.

The Veteran's right knee disability has been evaluated at a 10 percent rating since April 7, 2015. The evidence does not support an increase in the disability rating.

The Board found that the Veteran's right toe condition is not related to service, as it was diagnosed as tinea pedis and there is no evidence of a cold injury or chronic fungal infection during service. The left hip and left knee conditions are also not related to service.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for additional VA examinations of his left knee, as the previous examination reports are inadequate. The claims will be re-adjudicated based on the updated evidence.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess the current severity of his bilateral knee disabilities and obtain recent medical records from Dr. Raymond Shea.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not preclude substantially gainful employment, and the claim for a TDIU is denied.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's osteoarthritis of the bilateral knees is related to service, specifically his already service-connected low back strain with degenerative disc disease and bilateral sacroiliac degenerative changes; degenerative disc disease, cervical spine; and sacroiliac joint dysfunction, with degenerative changes.