Knee Board decisions

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection of his back strain, left knee disability, and right knee disability as secondary to a service-connected left ankle disability. The decision also addressed bilateral tinnitus and right-ear hearing loss but did not explicitly address left-ear hearing loss.

The Board found that the Veteran's current right knee disability is not etiologically related to his active service and arthritis of the right knee did not manifest within one year of separation from active service. The Veteran's right eye disability has been manifested by objective findings of uncorrected distance vision of 20/40 or better.

The Veteran's service-connected chondromalacia of the right knee patella does not prevent him from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment.

The Board has determined that the Veteran did not have a right knee or left knee disability that was caused by his military service, and thus denied both claims for service connection.

The Board has remanded the case due to a lack of recent treatment records and for consideration of whether the Veteran's service-connected low back disability may have caused or aggravated his bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his right and left knee disabilities, as well as a claim for a left ankle disability, are denied. The claims were not granted because the evidence did not support the assignment of higher ratings under applicable rating criteria.

The Veteran's arthritis of the shoulders, back, hands, and knees was not found to be related to his military service or herbicide exposure. The Board denied service connection for these conditions.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination for his left knee disability and issuance of a statement of the case regarding service connection (for VA compensation purposes) for teeth #8 and #9.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess the severity of his right ankle disability and an opinion on whether his current right knee disability is secondary to his service-connected right ankle disability.

The Veteran's appeal involves claims for service connection and increased ratings related to his right foot and hand disabilities, as well as a TDIU claim. The case is being remanded due to the need to obtain Social Security Administration records and additional VA examinations.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including a new VA examination to assess the severity of his left ankle disability and opinions regarding secondary service connection for his left knee disorder and bilateral hip disorder.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded to schedule a Travel Board hearing at a local VA office.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's right knee limitation of motion with degenerative joint disease does not warrant a rating in excess of 10 percent, as there is no evidence of flexion limited to or more than 30 degrees. The Veteran's right knee subluxation is currently rated at 10 percent.

The Board has decided that there may be outstanding VA treatment records related to the Veteran's left knee disorder and requests for these records have been made. The case is now remanded for further development.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining records from Chelsea Naval Hospital and scheduling VA examinations to determine the current nature of any right knee and ankle disabilities. The Veteran's claims will be readjudicated after this additional development.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's left knee osteoarthritis was caused by her service-connected right ankle fracture repair, and thus granted her claim for service connection.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for sleep apnea, and evaluations of his right and left foot plantar fascia releases prior to March 30, 2016 were denied. His initial compensable evaluation for a right ankle sprain was granted, as was an initial compensable evaluation for a left ankle sprain. However, he did not receive the requested increased evaluation for his left knee strain with patellar spur.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development due to a request from the Veteran's attorney for another hearing. The appeal is now pending and will be returned to the AOJ for further action.

The Veteran's claim for reimbursement of private medical expenses incurred on October 6, 2015 was denied as the condition did not qualify as a medical emergency and therefore does not meet the criteria for reimbursement under VA regulations.

The Veteran's right knee disability has been rated at 10 percent since March 2011. The Board found that the current rating adequately compensates for his symptoms, including pain and functional loss due to weakness, incoordination, and flare-ups.