Knee decisions — 2025

The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's knee and hearing loss conditions, granted a 40% rating for lumbar strain from September 6, 2022 to November 28, 2022, and granted 20% ratings for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy effective from September 6, 2022. The Board remanded service connection for scalp folliculitis.

The Board remands the claims for a disability rating in excess of 20 percent for left knee instability, and in excess of 10 percent for both left knee degenerative joint disease and right knee retropatellar pain syndrome due to outstanding medical records and the need for an additional VA examination.

The Board denied service connection for scars of the bilateral hands and arms, denied higher ratings for knee strain, dyspnea, erectile dysfunction, and tinnitus, and remanded several other issues including service connection for headaches disability.

The Board granted service connection for GERD, to include as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and denied increased ratings for chronic sinusitis, bilateral plantar fasciitis with heel bone spurs, lumbar strain with IVDS, left knee limitation of flexion, and remanded claims for vertigo.

The Board denied service connection for a skin disorder of the right shoulder, a skin disorder of the right arm, and a left knee disorder. The claims were not granted.

The Board granted service connection for cervical spine degenerative arthritis, right shoulder acromioclavicular and glenohumeral joint osteoarthritis, left shoulder acromioclavicular joint osteoarthritis, and right knee joint osteoarthritis, as well as a separate 20% rating for erectile dysfunction. The Board denied an increased disability rating higher than 20 percent for diabetes mellitus type II but granted service connection for bilateral primary open-angle glaucoma secondary to the Veteran's service-connected diabetes.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a left knee disorder, finding that there was no evidence of a pre-existing condition and that the current disability was not related to his military service.

The Board denied an evaluation in excess of 10 percent for right knee chondromalacia patella with iliotibial band syndrome and limitation of flexion, a separate compensable initial evaluation for right knee limitation of extension, and evaluations in excess of 10 percent for the right hip disabilities. However, it granted an initial 20 percent evaluation for right knee instability.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings, finding no evidence of a causal relationship between his right ankle strain and his service-connected conditions, and that his right knee instability and limitation of flexion were mild.

The appeal for a rating in excess of 30 percent for service-connected foot disability was dismissed, and the claims for service connection for left knee, right knee, left shoulder, and right arm disabilities were reopened.

The Veteran was granted a 20 percent rating for his right knee disability under Diagnostic Code 5258, effective May 10, 2006, and an earlier effective date of the same date for a 30 percent rating. The higher initial rating claim was denied.

The Board remands the issues of entitlement to increased ratings for right and left knee disabilities due to a need for further development, specifically obtaining updated VA treatment records and scheduling a new examination that complies with specific range of motion requirements.

The Board denied higher ratings for the Veteran's right and left knee arthritis, but granted a 30 percent rating for left knee instability and a total disability rating due to individual unemployability (TDIU).

The Board denied increased ratings in excess of 10 percent for the Veteran's chondromalacia of the right knee and chondromalacia of the left knee.

The Board granted entitlement to TDIU from January 23, 2015 to October 16, 2017 based on the aggregate impact of the Veteran's service-connected disabilities precluding substantially gainful employment. The Board denied service connection for benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), finding the evidence persuasively weighs against any relationship to service or service-connected disabilities.

The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's left and right knee disabilities with limitation of flexion, as well as an initial increased rating for his left lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for right and left knee conditions due to an inadequate VA examination.

The Board granted service connection for unspecified anxiety disorder with major depression, pituitary microadenoma benign neoplasm with migraine headaches, and asthma with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with assigned ratings of 70%, 50%, and 30% respectively. The claims for other conditions were remanded.

The Board granted service connection for diabetic peripheral neuropathy as it is etiologically linked to the Veteran's service-connected diabetes. Other claims were remanded for further development.

The Board denied service connection for hypertension and remanded the claims for PTSD, lumbar spine condition, left knee condition, right knee condition, left foot condition, and right foot condition due to a lack of evidence supporting their direct or secondary relationship to the Veteran's military service.