Knee decisions — 2025

The Board denied an initial compensable rating for the left knee surgical scar and remanded higher rating claims for the left knee meniscal tear with surgical repair and residuals of patellofemoral syndrome, to include degenerative arthritis, as well as a right ankle degenerative arthritis.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including knee and back pain, exotropia, GERD, and hemorrhoids, due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors.

The Board granted service connection for left knee pain, finding that the Veteran's condition began during active service and has continued since.

The Board denied service connection for a back disability, left hip disability, left knee disability, and right ankle disability. However, it granted service connection for a right hip strain and a right knee strain, and denied service connection for sleep apnea.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for a lumbar spine disability, right lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, left knee strain, and gallbladder stones to secure missing SSA records and obtain an adequate medical opinion.

The Board granted service connection for right ear hearing loss and chronic headaches, but denied service connection for left ear hearing loss. The Veteran's rhinitis was rated at 0 percent, with no increased ratings granted for the other disabilities.

The Board denied service connection for right knee, left knee, right elbow, left elbow, hearing loss, and tinnitus as the evidence did not support a current disability or a link to service.

The Board granted a 50 percent rating for PTSD and a 40 percent rating for lumbar strain, while denying service connection for bilateral hearing loss.

The Board granted service connection for left knee osteoarthritis, right knee osteoarthritis, back disorder (including lumbago and lumbosacral spondylosis), sciatica in the right lower extremity, and sciatica in the left lower extremity.

The Board remands the case for a VA examination to assess the severity of the service-connected right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome, knee joint osteoarthritis, extension.

The Board granted an effective date of July 29, 2022, and no earlier for the grant of a 20 percent disability rating for degenerative joint disease of the lumbosacral spine and intervertebral disc syndrome, as well as service connection for radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremities.

The Veteran was granted a 100 percent evaluation for the right total knee replacement from May 6, 2024, to October 31, 2024.

The appeal for service connection for right knee disability was dismissed because the subsequent rating decision was improperly issued and considered a spurious decision by the AOJ.

The Board denied the veteran's attempts to appeal rating decisions that denied service connection for various conditions due to untimeliness of appeals.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial compensable disability rating for onychocryptosis of the left big toe and remanded claims for service connection for right and left knee disabilities.

The Board granted service connection for right and left knee degenerative arthritis, as well as an increased disability rating of 10 percent for hypertension.

The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including a bilateral foot condition, left and right ankle conditions, hand conditions, knee conditions, shoulder conditions, wrist conditions, and a back condition, as the evidence did not show current diagnoses or that these conditions were related to active duty.

The Veteran withdrew the appeal for service connection for chronic back pain, right lower extremity radiculopathy, and a left knee disability secondary to the service-connected right knee patellofemoral syndrome.

The Board denied the veteran's appeal for service connection for allergies, bilateral hip disabilities, bilateral knee disabilities, lower back disability, and right foot, second toe disability due to untimely filing of the appeal requests.

The Board granted eligibility for attorney fees based on past-due benefits awarded in an October 2021 rating decision.