Knee Board decisions

The Board has granted service connection for degenerative arthritis of the left and right shoulders, as well as for obstructive sleep apnea. The decision also grants service connection for degenerative arthritis of the left and right knees.

Effective September 1, 2019, the Veteran is granted a TDIU due to his service-connected disabilities preventing him from securing and following substantially gainful employment.

The Veteran's claim for an increased rating of his service-connected left knee disability is remanded due to inadequate VA examinations. The AOJ must schedule the Veteran for a new examination and readjudicate the issue.

The Board has dismissed the appeals for service connection of left shoulder, right shoulder, and right knee disabilities as they are all part of a pending appeal under Docket No. 251006-597543.

The Veteran is unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation due to his service-connected musculoskeletal disabilities, which render him unemployable.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for a back disorder, right knee disability, left knee disability, and OSA have been granted due to the submission of new and relevant evidence.,The Board has readjudicated these claims based on the additional evidence provided by the Veteran.

The Veteran's left knee scar and tendonitis/tendinosis are service-connected, with the left knee tendonitis/tendinosis resulting in a compensable rating of 20 percent for limitation of extension. The Veteran is not entitled to higher ratings for his left knee disability.

The Veteran's claims for higher initial ratings for his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities are being remanded due to a duty-to-assist error in the prior examination report.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for depression (claimed as acquired psychiatric condition/mental condition) is denied due to lack of a formal or informal claim prior to September 25, 2015.,The Veteran's claim for SMC based on housebound criteria is denied because he did not meet the statutory requirement of having a single service-connected disability rated at 100% and additional disabilities rated at 60%.,The Veteran's claim for basic eligibility to DEA is denied as his TDIU was not based on a single disability, thus failing to satisfy the statutory requirement of a total rating for purposes of 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s).,Claims for increased ratings for left and right knee surgical scars are denied due to noncompensable (zero percent) ratings under Diagnostic Code 7802.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD is granted. The Board also remanded the claims for service connection for right knee, left knee, left heel, and right heel conditions.

The Veteran's appeal for service connection of a left knee condition has been dismissed as the Veteran requested to withdraw his appeal.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including an acquired psychiatric disorder, sinusitis, rhinitis, prostate condition, sleep apnea, vertigo, hypertension, back condition, shoulder conditions, elbow conditions, wrist conditions, hip conditions, knee conditions, and ankle/foot conditions. The reasons provided are that the evidence does not support a nexus between these conditions and service or any other relevant factors.

The Veteran's appeals for various service connection claims have been dismissed due to his death while the appeal was pending.

The Board has determined that the AOJ made a pre-decisional error by not providing an adequate VA examination and medical opinion, thus remanding the case for further action.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, right knee instability, left knee instability, left foot metatarsalgia, and right foot metatarsalgia due to a lack of current disabilities. The evidence did not include a current diagnosis for any claimed conditions.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection, including on a secondary basis, for GERD, diabetes mellitus type II, sleep apnea, venous stasis, left knee disorder, right and left knee disorders, and right hip disorder must be remanded due to inadequate examination reports. The effective dates for these grants of service connection will also be remanded.

The Veteran's appeal of his claims for service connection for various conditions has been withdrawn by the Veteran. As a result, all these claims are dismissed.

The Veteran's asthma was granted an initial rating of 10 percent prior to June 12, 2024. The appeal for a higher rating is denied. The Veteran's degenerative joint disease (left knee) and right knee are each rated at 10 percent. The Veteran's PTSD is rated at 50 percent. TDIU based solely on service-connected PTSD is granted.

The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings are being remanded due to procedural errors in the pre-decisional duty to assist.

The Board has determined that additional evidence is needed to properly adjudicate the Veteran's claims for service connection due to multiple pre-decisional duty to assist errors.