Knee decisions — 2021

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including lumbar spondylolisthesis, adjustment disorder, left knee strain, tinnitus, and right elbow trauma, are found to render him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment. The Board grants the TDIU claim.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for right and left knee disabilities, as well as vertigo. The AOJ is instructed to obtain new medical opinions regarding the etiology of these conditions.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty to assist error regarding the relationship between the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability and his current left knee condition. The case will be returned for an addendum opinion from a medical professional.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a hernia condition and a right knee condition, finding that there is no evidence of such conditions during or related to military service.

The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence has been submitted to warrant readjudication of the Veteran's claim for service connection for right knee condition. The left knee condition claim is denied as there is no evidence showing a current disability or any link to service.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error, and an examination is needed to determine if the Veteran's right knee disability had its onset in or is otherwise related to service.

The Board has remanded several claims, including service connection for various conditions such as left knee condition, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, kidney disease, erectile dysfunction, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The main issues are related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides during service.

Service connection is granted for chronic left knee pain. Service connection is denied for right knee disability, to include osteoarthritis.,The Veteran's lumbar spine disability and heart disability are remanded for further development.

The Veteran is granted separate 10% evaluations for left and right lower extremity weakness as residuals of his inactive Lyme disease, with the most probative evidence indicating these conditions are not attributable to any other service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran's right ear hearing loss is granted, isolated systolic hypertension remains noncompensable, and the evaluation for right knee lateral instability is remanded.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for a left knee condition and an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for his low back disability due to insufficient development. The issues must be addressed again with new evidence and examinations.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to adjudicate the claims for service connection for GERD, degenerative joint disease of the left hip, and left knee medial meniscus tear as secondary to service-connected right knee arthritis and right hip arthritis. The VA examinations conducted in May 2020 are inadequate for adjudication purposes due to insufficient addressing of whether these conditions are aggravated by poor biomechanics caused by the Veteran's service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran's claims for neck injury residuals, headaches, and back disorder have been granted. The claims for right foot toes, right knee disorder, and left knee disorder remain denied.

The Veteran's TDIU claim prior to February 1, 2021 was denied as she did not meet the criteria for a schedular TDIU rating and there is no evidence of unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran's left knee disability, characterized by limitation of flexion due to status post traumatic arthritis with a postoperative period of proximal tibial osteotomy, is rated at 10 percent from October 27, 2014 to March 7, 2017.

The Veteran's claim for increased ratings and TDIU is being remanded due to the need for additional development.

The Board has remanded the case due to failure to apply new musculoskeletal rating criteria and assess whether a separate rating is warranted for a meniscal condition.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further examination and medical opinions regarding his back disability, right knee disability, and right hip disability. The issues of entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for lumbosacral spondylosis (back disability), service connection for a right knee disability as secondary to the back disability, and service connection for a right hip disability as secondary to the back disability are all remanded.

The Board has granted service connection for OSA, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, low back disabilities (including degenerative arthritis, IVDS, and osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine with radiculopathy), right knee DJD, and left knee DJD. The appeal is remanded for further development regarding kidney stones.

The Veteran's claims of service connection for right knee disability and Bell's palsy were granted, while the application to reopen a claim of service connection for Bell's palsy was remanded. The Board found new and material evidence related to her right knee disability.