Knee decisions — 2020

The Veteran's claims for service connection have been granted. The right knee pain and acquired psychiatric condition are related to her service-connected back, left knee, and right hip disabilities. Tinnitus is presumed due to in-service noise exposure. Bilateral hearing loss has not been established as a disability.

The Board denied service connection for a right knee disability, including synovitis, arthritis, gout, and pseudogout, finding that the preponderance of evidence did not support a link to service.

The Veteran's service-connected undiagnosed skin disorder, manifested by skin flushing, was granted. The issues of increased ratings for generalized anxiety disorder and tension-type headaches, as well as the cervical strain with degenerative disc disease prior to January 28, 2020, and patellofemoral syndrome of the left knee with osteoarthritis remain pending.

The Veteran's attorney withdrew the appeal seeking a rating in excess of 30 percent for his right knee injury, and the Board dismissed the case.

The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's right and left knee disabilities, finding that there is at least a 50% probability that these conditions are related to his military service.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims of service connection for left shoulder and right knee disabilities due to inadequate medical opinions in their original decision. The case is sent back for further development, including a new examination.

The Board has remanded the claims for increased ratings for various shell fragment wound residuals due to inconsistencies in effective dates and proper consideration of schedular criteria.

The Veteran's right, left knee, and shoulder conditions are granted as service-connected.,Service connection for rhinitis is denied.

The Board has decided to remand the cases for additional development and examination, including a VA examination of the Veteran's right TKR and an addendum opinion regarding her back, left knee, and right hip disabilities. The issues include service connection for back disability, left knee disability, right hip disability, and a rating in excess of 30 percent for right TKR.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a higher rating for left knee osteoarthritis and TDIU due to inadequate evaluations in previous examinations. A new VA examination is needed to assess the current severity of the Veteran's left knee condition.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection of a right knee disability, but remanded it due to insufficient medical evidence on whether his current right knee condition is secondary to his left knee disability.

The Board has remanded the cases for further development and readjudication due to insufficient medical opinions regarding service connection for Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia, left hip disorder, right knee disorder, and left knee disorder.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral knee disability, finding that there was no evidence to support a nexus between his current condition and his military service.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his left and right knee disabilities due to inadequate examination findings. The examiner was not able to provide a full description of the disability, including signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran’s knee conditions under the rating criteria.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to the need for a medical opinion to determine if the Veteran's spinal cord stimulation procedure is related to his service-connected knee disabilities or nonservice-connected CRPS.

The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings were denied. The Board found no current right ankle disability, insufficient left ankle functional impairment to warrant a higher rating, and insufficient evidence of arthritis in the knees to grant an increased rating.

The Board dismissed all claims for service connection due to the Veteran's death.

The Veteran's claim for a higher initial rating for his right knee disabilities remains pending. The Board denied the Veteran's claims for ratings in excess of 10 percent for right knee strain with degenerative changes, limitation of extension, and instability throughout the appeal period.

The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeal for service connection of diabetes mellitus type 2. The remaining issues, including increased ratings and TDIU, are remanded.

The Board has decided to remand the claims for bilateral knee disorder, bilateral ankle disorder, cervical spine disorder, left shoulder disorder, and bilateral hearing loss due to additional evidentiary development being required.