Knee decisions — 2022

The Board has decided that the VA examinations did not provide sufficient information about the Veteran's right knee range of motion, and thus remanded the case for further examination.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, right knee disorder, and left knee disorder are being remanded due to the need for additional development and examination.

The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional examinations and records, particularly regarding the Veteran's cervical spine, left and right knee disabilities, and his service-connected unspecified anxiety disorder with other specified depressive disorder.

The Veteran's bilateral knee osteoarthrosis have been manifested by flexion of 70 degrees or greater, and extension to 10 degrees or less. The Veteran is currently assigned a 10 percent rating for each of her left and right knees due to osteoarthritis under DC 5261.,The criteria for entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for a right knee disability have not been met. The Veteran's peripheral neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities is not shown to be causally or etiologically related to any disease, injury, or incident in service.

The Board has granted service connection for right knee arthritis and left knee arthritis, finding that the disabilities were not noted at entry into service and did not preexist. The Veteran's current diagnoses of knee arthritis are consistent with his in-service diagnosis.

Service connection is granted for right and left knee disabilities, as well as back and right ankle disabilities. Service connection for neck disability was dismissed.,The Veteran's right and left knees are found to be related to service due to degenerative joint disease.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a left knee disorder, finding that his preexisting condition clearly and unmistakably existed prior to entrance into active duty service and was not aggravated by his service.

The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including a left knee disorder, left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder. The evidence did not establish in-service incurrence or a nexus to service for any of these conditions.

The Board denied the claim for an increased rating for a right knee disability on an extraschedular basis, finding that the schedular ratings adequately contemplate the Veteran's symptoms and functional impairment.

The Veteran's appeals for service connection and rating issues have been dismissed due to his withdrawal of the appeal.

The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for left and right knee disabilities have been dismissed due to his death.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for left knee and lumbar spine disabilities due to inadequate medical opinions in the previous decision.

The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's left knee retropatellar syndrome, finding that it had its onset during active service and is related to his in-service injury.

The Board has remanded the cases for further development and consideration, including obtaining a VA examination to address the nature and etiology of the Veteran's left knee, left hip, and right hip disabilities.

The Board has decided that the Veteran's left knee arthritis is caused or aggravated by his service-connected back disability, and thus grants service connection for this condition.

The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeals for various conditions, including right elbow strain, right wrist strain, bilateral hearing loss, chronic bronchitis, right hip pain, and sinusitis. The claims were also dismissed for left elbow lateral epicondylitis, a rating greater than 20 percent for a right shoulder disability, an effective date earlier than September 1, 2018, for the grant of a 20 percent rating for a right shoulder disability, and an initial compensable rating for surgical scars, right shoulder. The Board also dismissed the Veteran's appeals regarding service connection for left knee disorder, right knee disorder, and low back disorder.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for higher evaluations for his service-connected lumbar spine, bilateral knee instability, and right knee limitation of motion due to inadequate VA examination reports. The case is also remanded for a retrospective opinion regarding the severity of the Veteran's DDD of the lumbar spine status post lumbar fusion throughout the period on appeal.

The Veteran's right and left knee disabilities, including instability, were denied increased ratings.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional development, including obtaining an addendum opinion regarding whether his right shoulder disability is aggravated by his service-connected left shoulder disability and whether any of his claimed disabilities are related to obesity or weight gain secondary to his service-connected psychiatric disability.

The Veteran's claims for higher ratings on his left knee, low back, and shoulder disabilities are remanded. The TDIU claim prior to May 13, 2016 is also remanded.