Knee Board decisions

The Board has granted ratings for right and left knee disabilities, but denied higher ratings. The Veteran appealed these denials to the Veterans Claims Court, which issued a JMPR vacating the denial of higher ratings for limitation of flexion and extension. This decision requires remand to obtain retrospective medical opinions regarding the severity of the knee disabilities without medication.

The Veteran's low back disability is currently rated at 20 percent, but the Board has found that it does not meet the criteria for a higher rating. The issues of service connection for left great toe condition, left knee condition, and right foot condition have been remanded due to insufficient evidence.

The Veteran's service-connected knee and hip conditions have rendered him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment prior to June 17, 2009. The Board has remanded the case for extraschedular TDIU consideration.

The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate compliance with previous remands and a need for further examination of the Veteran's right knee disability.

The Board has dismissed the claim for a left knee strain rating and remanded the claims for right knee strain and migraine headaches.

The Veteran's TDIU claim is granted for the period since February 15, 2015. The effective date of this grant is set at February 15, 2015.

The Board denied service connection for various orthopedic conditions, including low back, cervical spine, left shoulder, elbow, hip, knee, and ankle conditions. The Veteran's hypertension was also not found to be service-connected.

The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his left knee total arthroplasty with instability and muscle atrophy prior to September 25, 2019 is denied as the evidence does not support a rating in excess of 60 percent.

The Board has remanded several issues including the right knee rating, service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and sleep apnea, and TDIU due to lack of information regarding the severity of the Veteran's conditions and potential secondary service connection.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired mental disorder and for increased ratings for his left, right knee, and right foot disabilities. The Veteran did not meet the criteria for these claims.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral foot disorder, left ankle condition, left knee disability, and left hip disability as there was no evidence of a nexus to service or any other related conditions. The skin and prostate disabilities were also not granted service connection.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to address the Veteran's claims for service connection due to conflicting medical evidence and incomplete development of records related to her claimed disabilities.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including PTSD, right shoulder tear with arthroscopic surgery, left and right knee meniscal tears, IBS, and ventral hernia, have rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation. The Board has granted the TDIU claim based on this finding.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for cervical spine, right hip, left knee, and bilateral ankle disabilities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral knee and hip disabilities, finding that there was no evidence of in-service injury or disease and that any current disabilities were not related to service.

The Board has remanded the claims for left knee disability, right knee disability, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus to obtain additional medical records from VA and private sources.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for a detailed accounting of all adjustments to his military retirement pay and VA compensation benefits from FY 2011. The Veteran needs to provide the VA with a copy of the check he wrote in 2013 for overpayment, and both DFAS and DMC need to conduct an accounting.

The Veteran's right shoulder fracture deformity, gastroesophageal reflux disease, left knee osteoarthrosis post arthroscopic surgery, and right knee tricompartmental osteoarthrosis post high tibial osteotomy are all denied increased ratings.,No specific rating is assigned for the Veteran's service-connected conditions.

The Board has dismissed all the Veteran's claims due to his death.

The Veteran's left knee limitation of extension is granted with a 10 percent rating from December 16, 2010 to June 19, 2014. The cases are remanded for further development on the issues of increased ratings for residuals left knee and left knee lateral instability.