Knee decisions — 2021

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for various foot and ankle disorders due to inadequate medical opinions regarding their etiology. The issues are not about service connection via a presumption, but rather on the merits.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's right knee condition is related to his military service and granted service connection for this condition.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have prevented him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation prior to May 3, 2019.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for a right leg/knee condition is denied. The appeal for TDIU, lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis rating increase, and effective date prior to June 19, 2018 are remanded.

The Board denied service connection for right wrist disability, left knee disability, and right knee disability due to lack of evidence showing a current disability related to active duty service.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for left knee and low back disabilities, finding that there was no evidence to support a direct relationship between these conditions and his active military service.

The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for right and left knee disabilities due to insufficient examination findings. The Veteran's knee conditions are being reviewed again with a focus on direct service connection, pre-existing condition aggravation, or new evidence.

The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for her left knee replacement is being remanded due to the need for initial adjudication considering evidence generated by VA after the appeal was transferred to the Board.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for heart condition, right shoulder disability, right knee disability, and left knee disability due to potential exposure to herbicides during active duty service. The Veteran's unit is not determined as having served in or near the Korean DMZ.

The Board denied service connection for left wrist and left knee disabilities, finding that the preexisting conditions were not aggravated by military service.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further development, including obtaining updated VA treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to determine the current nature and severity of his right shoulder chronic tendonitis, left knee degenerative joint disease, right knee degenerative joint disease, and left knee instability. The Veteran also has service connection for an unspecified depressive disorder as secondary to his service-connected disabilities.

The Board has remanded the claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to incomplete records from the Social Security Administration.

The Veteran's service-connected left knee disability has rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation since September 1, 2013.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities are as likely as not of such nature and severity as to prevent him from securing or following substantially gainful employment, leading to a TDIU on an extraschedular basis from March 1, 2011, until February 23, 2020, and a TDIU granted from February 24, 2020, onward.

The Veteran's bilateral knee disabilities have been rated based on limitation of motion, with no higher ratings granted due to the lack of more than moderate instability or flexion limitations.,The current ratings for right and left knee disabilities are appropriate given the evidence showing limited range of motion but not reaching 30 degrees in either knee.

The Veteran's bilateral knee arthritis is rated at 10 percent, and the limitation of extension is noncompensable.,The Veteran's right and left knees both have limited motion from 5 to 95 degrees, with no higher ratings possible based on arthritis or limitation of extension.

The Board has dismissed the appeal for service connection of a left knee disability. The issues of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability (including PTSD), chloracne, and guttate psoriasis are remanded. Additionally, the issue of TDIU is inextricably intertwined with these issues.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral-knee and bilateral-foot disorders due to a lack of evidence linking these conditions to active service.

The Veteran's TDIU claim is remanded for further review, as the Board cannot grant a TDIU on an extraschedular basis prior to June 2, 2014. The case will be referred to the Director of Compensation Service for consideration.

The Veteran's claims for increased evaluations for low back and left knee scars have been dismissed due to their death.