Knee Board decisions

The Board has remanded the cases due to the need for additional records and information from the Veteran's treatment providers.

The Veteran's claims for effective dates earlier than August 21, 2014, for the grant of service connection for radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremities were denied.,The Veteran's claims for effective dates earlier than September 12, 2013, for the grant of service connection for left knee instability and for a 30 percent rating for traumatic DJD of the right and left knees were granted.

The Veteran's claims for service connection have been denied as new and material evidence has not been received to reopen the claims. The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral knee injury and concussion with memory loss and headaches are not etiologically related to his active military service or his service-connected disabilities.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a right knee condition, but has remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for hearing loss.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU have been remanded due to the submission of new evidence since the last supplemental statement of the case.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for lower back disorder, bilateral knee disorder, and radiculopathy of the lower extremities due to insufficient medical evidence. The VA is directed to obtain updated treatment records and provide a VA medical opinion regarding the nature and etiology of these conditions.

Service connection is granted for left ear hearing loss and right ear hearing loss based on in-service noise exposure.,Service connection is granted for chest pain, head injury, knee pain, acquired psychiatric disability (including PTSD), headaches (due to treatment for PFB), hypertension, and dizziness secondary to service-connected tinnitus.

The Veteran's initial ratings for his left shoulder bursitis and tendonitis, as well as his left and right knee degenerative joint diseases are being remanded due to insufficient examination reports.

The Board denied service connection for a right shoulder disability, left knee disability, and right knee disability. The Veteran's claim was not supported by medical evidence linking the disabilities to his active service.,The Board also denied service connection for a left foot disability. Again, there was no competent medical evidence showing a link between the current disability and service.

The Veteran's left shoulder disability is rated at 10 percent, and his left knee disability is rated at 20 percent. The appeal for increased ratings remains denied.

The Board has decided to remand the claims of service connection for bilateral knee condition and vertigo due to duty-to-assist errors, including missing STRs and incomplete verification of active duty training periods. The Veteran will need VA examinations to determine if his current conditions are related to service or service-connected conditions.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development to obtain missing service records and attempt to corroborate the Veteran's reported in-service stressors.

The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for his left and right knee disabilities were denied as the evidence did not show that either knee disability warranted a rating in excess of 10 percent.

The Board denied service connection for multilevel degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, neck condition, right knee disability, and residuals of a staph infection due to lack of evidence showing in-service injury or disease.,Service connection was not granted as there is no clear and unmistakable evidence that the conditions pre-existed service or were aggravated by military service.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings of his bilateral knee conditions and service connection for low back disability and wrist disability are being remanded due to the need for additional development.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including bilateral hand disorder, gout, heart disorder, knee disorder, sinusitis, kidney disorder, and tourette syndrome. The appeals were either not pursued or new evidence was submitted that did not relate to the original reasons for denial.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and reopening of service connection claims were denied. The rating for tinnitus was found to be at the maximum allowable, asthma was rated appropriately based on PFT results, and new evidence did not support reopening of claims for recurrent ear infections or breast augmentation. Service connection for left knee disorder, low back disorder, left hip disorder, right hip disorder, and left leg disorder were denied due to lack of service connection.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for a bilateral ankle disability, low back disability (secondary to ankle), and bilateral knee disability (secondary to ankle) due to incomplete records of treatment. The Veteran is asked to provide authorization for VA to obtain his medical records from private providers who have treated him since 1969.

The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's left knee disability, including residuals of total knee arthroplasty, finding that it is related to his military service.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including lower back condition, left leg condition, left knee condition, bilateral hips conditions, bilateral ankle conditions, bilateral foot conditions, anxiety, depression, COPD, headaches, and loss of right kidney are denied.,Right knee and right leg conditions are remanded for further examination and opinion.