Knee decisions — 2024

The Board granted service connection for a left ankle condition, finding that the Veteran's current disability is related to her in-service injury.

The Veteran's TDIU claim is denied as none of her service-connected disabilities, alone, are severe enough to prevent her from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for Lyme disease and remanded all associated issues due to insufficient evidence regarding the relationship between his current disabilities and service.

The Board has remanded the claims for increased evaluations of right ankle and left knee disabilities due to insufficient evidence or procedural issues. The Veteran's TDIU claim is also on appeal.

The Board has determined that the claims of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, a back condition, and a right knee condition need further development due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.

The Board has remanded the case due to new evidence added to the record regarding the Veteran's right knee disability. The rating for this condition remains at 10 percent.

The Board has determined that additional development is necessary for the Veteran's claims of increased ratings and TDIU, including obtaining pertinent medical records and conducting examinations to assess his bilateral plantar fasciitis and knee conditions.

The Board has remanded several issues for further development, including service connection claims for various conditions. The Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 10 percent for his left wrist ganglion cyst is denied as he is already receiving the maximum schedular rating.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a hernia due to lack of evidence linking it to his military service.,The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, right knee disability, lumbar spine disability, and right shoulder disability for additional development.

The Board denied service connection for right hip, right knee, and low back disabilities due to a lack of evidence linking these conditions to service or service-connected injuries.

The Veteran's initial 10 percent rating for left foot hallux valgus is granted. The Board also finds that the Veteran has a current service-connected disability, but remands his claims for additional examinations to determine the severity of his left knee and cervical spine disabilities as well as his PTSD.

The Veteran's TDIU claim is remanded for referral to the Director of Compensation Service due to his service-connected right ankle fracture with traumatic arthritis and bilateral knee disabilities preventing him from securing and following substantially gainful employment prior to March 21, 2018.

The Board has granted the Veteran's request to withdraw his claim for a higher rating for left knee revision total knee arthroplasty. The Veteran was also granted entitlement to TDIU due to the combined effect of multiple service-connected disabilities preventing him from maintaining gainful employment.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for a left knee disability and bilateral foot disability due to inadequate VA medical opinions, failure to address continuity of symptomatology, and lack of relevant STR notations. The case is returned to the AOJ for further development.

The Veteran was granted a TDIU for the period prior to August 9, 2016. For the period between August 9, 2016 and October 1, 2017, the weight of evidence did not support a finding that any other service-connected disability prevented him from securing or following substantially gainful employment.

The Board has granted service connection for left knee disability, right knee disability, and a right ankle disability. The Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 20 percent for thoracolumbar spine degenerative arthritis is remanded. Service connection for PTSD with depression, anxiety disorder, sleep disturbances is also remanded.

The Board has restored service connection for Lyme disease, anemia (due to Lyme disease), thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer, left knee patellofemoral syndrome, and right knee patellofemoral syndrome as secondary to the Veteran's exposure to these conditions during her military service.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional development due to incomplete medical opinions and issues related to left knee genu recurvatum. The AOJ is instructed to obtain a medical opinion regarding the right knee meniscal tear and adjudicate the issue of left knee genu recurvatum.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a lumbar spine disability and a left knee disability, finding that there was no evidence of in-service injury or disease leading to current disabilities.

The Board denied entitlement to an extraschedular rating for right and left knee disabilities prior to the specified dates due to the adequacy of the assigned schedular ratings.,The Veteran's claim for SMC at the housebound rate was denied as he did not have a single service-connected disability rated at 100% or multiple disabilities independently rated at 60%, nor was he permanently housebound.