Knee decisions — 2018

The Board has remanded the claims for residuals of cancer of the renal pelvis, right knee disability, CAD, and type 2 diabetes mellitus due to incomplete medical opinions and additional evidence. The Veteran's service-connected prostate cancer is claimed as secondary to his renal pelvis cancer.

The Board has denied service connection for a low back disability and bilateral knee disability, finding that the evidence does not support a direct or presumptive relationship to active duty service.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, a back disorder, a right hip disorder, and initial ratings for his right and left knee disabilities due to incomplete examinations and lack of medical evidence supporting the diagnoses.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a left knee disorder, as secondary to his service-connected right knee disorder. The decision also grants service connection for posttraumatic osteoarthritis of both hands and fingers, but denies service connection for a neck disorder.

The Veteran's TDIU claim is granted due to his service-connected disabilities, specifically PTSD and left knee disability. The right knee disability, spinal stenosis, and migraine headaches are not addressed in this decision.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for evaluations of his service-connected disabilities due to a lack of recent VA examinations and insufficient range-of-motion testing in previous examinations. The Veteran is required to undergo new VA examinations to assess the current severity of his right knee, left wrist, and right wrist disabilities.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for left knee, back, and left eye disabilities due to inadequate consideration of relevant evidence in prior VA examinations.

The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for lumbar spine, left hip, right hip, left knee, and right ankle disabilities as secondary to a service-connected right great toe disability due to lack of sufficient nexus opinions.

The Board has granted the reopening of several previously denied claims, but has found that additional evidence is needed to determine if service connection can be established for these conditions.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a rating greater than 10 percent for his right knee disability and a rating greater than 20 percent for his left knee disability due to insufficient examination findings.

The Board has remanded two issues: entitlement to service connection for a left knee condition and entitlement to service connection for a right knee condition claimed as secondary to the left knee. The Veteran's testimony indicates he injured his left knee while wearing full combat gear at Camp Lejeune, but did not receive formal treatment. He contends that his right knee disability is due to altered gait caused by his left knee issues.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence regarding the nature and etiology of his claimed conditions, specifically bilateral pes planus, low back disorder, right knee disorder, left knee disorder, and shin splints.

An effective date of July 30, 2013, is granted for a 70 percent rating for generalized anxiety disorder.,Effective dates of July 30, 2013 and May 19, 2014 are granted for initial 10 percent ratings for right knee patellofemoral syndrome and left knee patellofemoral syndrome, respectively.

The Veteran's claims for service connection were denied. The Board found no current diagnoses or persistent symptoms of the claimed conditions, and thus denied all related claims.

The Board has decided that the Veteran's right knee condition may be related to her service, but needs more information from her medical records and a physical examination.

The Veteran's claim to reopen his service connection for a lumbar spine disability was granted. The other claims of service connection were remanded due to the need for additional examinations and evaluations.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and service-connected right knee disability are granted. Service connection for a bilateral hip disorder, respiratory disorder, and brain disorder is denied.

The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating for anxiety disorder with OCD symptoms was dismissed. The claim of service connection for a left ankle condition is reopened, but the claims for right ankle, left knee, and right knee conditions are remanded.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient clarification on the etiologies of certain right knee disorders and for obtaining additional VA or private treatment records.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of increased ratings for his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities due to inadequate examination and failure to address functional loss during flare-ups.