Knee decisions — 2025

The Board granted service connection for right knee osteoarthritis, right elbow lateral epicondylitis, mood disorder due to known physiological condition with depressive like features, bilateral foot pain with plantar fasciitis, and right foot pes planus. The decision also denied an increased rating for left knee degenerative arthritis, limitation of flexion, a separate 10 percent rating for left knee instability, an initial compensable disability rating for uterine fibroids, and a 10 percent evaluation based upon multiple, noncompensable, service-connected disabilities.

The Board denied the claims for a compensable rating for hypertension, an increased rating for a left ankle disability, service connection for chronic headaches and a neck injury, and remanded several other claims including service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, residuals of traumatic brain injury, erectile dysfunction, respiratory disability, right knee disability, and skin condition affecting the feet.

The Board denied earlier effective dates for the evaluations of various service-connected disabilities and denied eligibility for Dependents' Educational Assistance based on permanent and total disability status.

The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, a lower back disability, left knee disability, right knee disability, and right ankle post-traumatic arthritis.

The Board granted an effective date of May 8, 2018 for Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) based on the Veteran's permanent and total disability status.

The Board granted an effective date of August 21, 2019, for the award of service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and remanded other claims including those for service connection for right knee, left knee, right shoulder, left shoulder disabilities, TDIU, and a higher rating for psychiatric disability.

The Board remands the matters of initial disability ratings for right and left knee disabilities due to an inadequate VA examination from March 2019.

The Board granted increased ratings for the Veteran's inclusion body myositis, right and left hip limitations of motion, and loss of use of the right hand prior to certain dates, while denying an increased rating for a right hand disability since August 14, 2023.

The Board granted a 20 percent rating for degenerative joint disease of the left knee from August 17, 2018 through August 11, 2020 and a 60 percent rating for status-post left total knee replacement from October 1, 2021, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.

The Board granted a 50% and 20% rating for the Veteran's right knee strain, limitation of extension and flexion respectively, but denied an increased rating for subluxation. The TDIU issue was remanded.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for bilateral knee instability and degenerative joint disease, as well as limitation of extension, finding that the evidence did not support higher ratings under applicable criteria.

The Board remands the appeal for an adequate retrospective medical opinion regarding the severity of the Veteran's right knee impairment.

The Board granted service connection for a left ankle condition and remanded claims for service connection for knee and hip conditions, while denying service connection for peripheral nerve conditions of the upper and lower extremities.

The Board granted the reopening of the claim for service connection for a right knee torn ACL but denied service connection for right and left hand disabilities, a left shoulder disability, hypertension as secondary to migraine cephalgia, and a rating in excess of 50 percent for migraine cephalgia.

The Board granted service connection for bilateral cataracts, melanoma, and bilateral knee arthritis based on the Veteran's exposure to ionizing radiation during his service.

The Board remands the Veteran's claims for an increased rating for her service-connected left knee disability and service connection for a right knee disability, secondary to the left knee disability, due to deficiencies in the prior Board decision.

The Board remands the issues of increased ratings for bilateral knee disabilities and entitlement to TDIU due to non-compliance with previous remand directives.

The Board denied a rating in excess of 10 percent for left knee disability based on limitation of flexion but granted a separate 10 percent rating for left knee limitation of extension.

The Board remands the appeal for further development as it still does not possess sufficient information to afford the Veteran the most favorable outcome.

The Board denied a rating in excess of 30 percent for the right knee disability, as the Veteran's right knee disability manifested in no greater than extension limited to 20 degrees.