Knee decisions — 2020

The Board has decided that the Veteran's service connection claims for back, knee, and hernia disorders should be remanded due to inadequate examination in February 2014.

The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for his right knee disability is being remanded due to the need for a new VA examination that complies with Correia v. McDonald.

The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for his service-connected left knee disability is being remanded due to the need for additional development and consideration of new evidence.

The Veteran's appeal for a higher rating for left knee osteoarthritis status post total knee replacement after November 1, 2017, was denied. The claim for TDIU prior to September 7, 2016, was also denied.

The Veteran's claims for service connection have been reopened and are granted. The Board found new and material evidence to support the reopening of his claims, including medical articles linking tinnitus to mental health disorders and VA examination findings supporting the Veteran's current conditions.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for a new VA examination to assess his left total knee replacement and determine its severity.

The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding his claimed joint pain and arthritis.

The Board dismissed the appeals for increased ratings of left and right shoulder degenerative joint diseases, abdominal scars, and right knee instability. The claims for service connection for left ear hearing loss were denied. The Veteran's right knee instability was granted a 10 percent rating from April 18, 2013, and a 20 percent rating from May 31, 2018. The claims for femoral nerve radiculopathies are remanded.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected left and right knee instability, as well as his claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU). The issues are being remanded due to inconsistencies in medical evidence regarding the severity of the Veteran's knee disabilities.

The Board denied service connection for PTSD and remanded the increased rating claims for right knee, left knee, and psychiatric disabilities.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) prior to May 14, 2012. The evidence did not show that his service-connected disabilities alone prevented him from securing or maintaining substantially gainful employment.

The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's right knee and low back disabilities, finding that these conditions began during his military service and have persisted since then.

The Veteran's claims for higher ratings for his lumbar spine and right knee disabilities are being remanded due to the need for additional examination and analysis.

The Veteran's initial rating for residuals of right wrist scaphoid fracture was denied, as his symptoms did not meet the criteria for a higher rating.,A separate 20 percent rating for left knee meniscal tears is granted from July 8, 2018.

The Board has remanded the claims for left knee instability and right knee instability due to inadequate VA examination. The GERD claim is denied as there are outstanding private treatment records that need to be obtained.

The Board has dismissed all issues of service connection for various disabilities as the Veteran did not allege specific errors of law or fact in the determinations.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for a higher disability rating for his service-connected low back disability and denied his claims for service connection of right knee and left knee disabilities due to lack of current evidence of these conditions.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient information and need for additional medical opinions. The issues of PTSD, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, right shoulder disability, lumbar spine disability, headaches, left foot disability, right foot disability, left ankle disability, right ankle disability, left knee disability, and right knee disability are all remanded.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for a left knee disorder due to new and material evidence. The claims for service connection for PTSD, left knee disorder, and low back disorder are all remanded as they are inextricably intertwined with the reopening of the left knee disorder claim.