Knee decisions — 2024

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss has been denied a compensable rating. The claims for service connection of right and left knee disabilities are remanded due to the need for further examination.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current left knee disability is related to his active-duty service, and therefore grants service connection for this condition.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus. The remaining issues of service connection for left knee pain, right knee pain, sleep apnea, foot pain, lack of sleep, and back pain are remanded due to the Veteran's inability to attend scheduled VA examinations during the week.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for an equilibrium (dizziness) disability and a right knee disability are being remanded due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors. The VA will need to provide additional examinations and medical opinions to address the etiology of these disabilities, particularly in relation to presumed Gulf War exposure.

The Veteran's claim for increased disability ratings for an acquired psychiatric disorder and a semilunar cartilage condition of the left knee was denied. The Veteran is not entitled to an increased rating for his acquired psychiatric disorder, as he does not meet the criteria for a total disability rating or a disability rating of 70 percent. For the left knee, the Veteran is granted a compensable disability rating (10%) effective January 13, 2021, for limitation of motion.

The Veteran's cause of death was not service-connected, and his service-connected disabilities did not contribute substantially or materially to cause death.,The Appellant's income exceeded the maximum annual pension rate, preventing her from receiving survivor's pension.

The Veteran has withdrawn all appeals related to the issues of service connection for various conditions, including diabetes mellitus, type II, gout, hypertension, nephrolithiasis and stage IV kidney failure, left knee replacement and pain disability, right knee pain disability, left upper extremity radiculopathy (hand numbness), left lower extremity neuropathy and radiculopathy, right upper extremity radiculopathy (hand numbness), right lower extremity neuropathy and radiculopathy, lumbar back pain and degenerative joint disease (DJD), and atrial fibrillation and coronary calcifications, status-post ablation.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to a failure to consider the Veteran's service-connected disabilities and obtain necessary medical records. The claim will be reconsidered under the provisions of 38 U.S.C. § 1728.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for various hip and knee disabilities are being remanded due to the need for additional examinations and consideration of new evidence.

The Board denied service connection for various shoulder, knee, ankle, and plantar fasciitis disabilities due to a lack of evidence showing current diagnoses or functional impairment.

The Board denied service connection for a right knee disability and a thoracolumbar spine disability, finding that the evidence did not support a link between these conditions and the Veteran's active duty service.

The Veteran is rendered unable to obtain or maintain substantially gainful employment due to service-connected knee and lumbar spine disabilities from October 2, 2015 to December 1, 2015, June 20, 2016 to September 1, 2016, July 19, 2017 to September 1, 2018, and April 10, 2019 to June 1, 2019.

The Board has remanded the case due to a need for further development, including obtaining an addendum VA opinion regarding whether the Veteran's right knee disability was aggravated during service.

The appeals for service connection of various disabilities have been dismissed as the Veteran has withdrawn his appeal. The issue of a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is remanded.

The Board has remanded the cases due to new evidence received after the last supplemental statement of the case.

The Veteran's right and left knee disabilities, low back disability, radiculopathy of the lower extremities, skin condition (Hidradenitis), sleep apnea, and restrictive airway disease are all found to be related to his military service.,Service connection is granted for these conditions.

The Veteran's service-connected right knee status post total knee arthroplasty is rated at 60 percent for the period from March 1, 2015. The Veteran also received a grant of TDIU for this same time frame.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his right and left knee recurrent patellar instability are being remanded due to the need for a new VA examination to assess current severity.

The Veteran's left knee arthritis prior to September 24, 2021 is not rated higher than 10 percent.,The Veteran's right TKR prior to June 19, 2018 is not rated higher than 10 percent.,The Veteran's right TKR from August 1, 2019 to August 3, 2023 meets the criteria for a maximum 60 percent rating.,The Veteran's right hip arthritis with limitation of flexion prior to September 24, 2021 is not rated higher than 10 percent.,The Veteran's right hip arthritis with limitation of flexion from September 24, 2021 onward does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to insufficient medical opinions and further development is needed.