Knee Board decisions

The Board found no evidence of current left ankle, left knee, or cognitive disabilities and denied the Veteran's service connection claims.

The Veteran's chronic left knee disability, diagnosed as anterior cruciate ligament deficiency with instability and arthritis, is found to be secondary to his service-connected right knee disability. The temporary total convalescent rating for the right knee was granted beyond June 30, 2008, and a schedular 100 percent evaluation was assigned from May 7, 2008 onwards.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining medical records and scheduling VA examinations to assess the nature and etiology of his claimed disabilities.

The Veteran's claims for higher disability ratings for his right and left knee disabilities, as well as his right and left foot disabilities, were denied by the RO. The RO found that the Veteran did not meet the schedular criteria for an evaluation in excess of 10 percent for these conditions.

The Board has determined that a VA examination is needed to assess the current severity of the Veteran's service-connected left knee disability. The appeal will be remanded for this purpose.

The Veteran's initial disability rating for her left knee disability has been granted at a 10 percent level, effective from June 27, 2005.

The Board found no evidence of a right knee or skin disability during service and denied the Veteran's claims for these conditions. The dental claim was also denied as there is no evidence of any dental condition in service.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities are being reviewed to determine if they result in the need for specially adapted housing or special home adaptation grant.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, a bilateral knee disorder, and a skin disorder to include as due to exposure to herbicides. The skin disorder was not found to be related to service or presumed exposure to Agent Orange.

The Veteran's claims for an earlier effective date and a temporary total evaluation were denied. The Board found that the correct effective date was March 8, 1995, and that he did not meet the criteria for a temporary total evaluation prior to this date.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a left ankle disability and a right knee disability, finding that there was no evidence of such disabilities during service or related to any service-connected conditions.

The Veteran's appeal for service connection for asthma and residuals of a left knee injury has been dismissed due to his death.

The Veteran's service-connected bilateral foot disability, pes planus with hallux valgus and plantar fasciitis, was granted. The Veteran's service-connected left knee disabilities (chondromalacia patella and DJD) were not found to warrant a higher rating. The Veteran's PTSD was also granted but did not meet the criteria for an increased rating.

The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for arthritis of the right wrist, right elbow, left elbow, and right knee were denied as his conditions did not meet the criteria for higher ratings under applicable diagnostic codes.

The Veteran's appeals for service connection on eight specific conditions have been withdrawn.

The Veteran's appeal in regard to an increased rating for post-operative residuals of a right knee injury has been dismissed due to the Veteran withdrawing his notice of disagreement. The case is remanded for further action regarding the claim for an increased rating for eczema/dermatitis.

The Board has restored the Veteran's original 20 percent ratings for his service-connected left and right knee disabilities, as well as granted service connection for sleep apnea based on aggravation during his third period of active duty.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's right hip, leg, knee, ankle disabilities are service-connected and assigned a 10 percent disability rating for his service-connected right wrist fracture.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining a statement of the case on his low back disability claim and scheduling VA examinations to assess the severity of his psychiatric condition, knee arthritis, hip disability, low back disability, and right shoulder disability. The examiner should also determine if these disabilities are related to service or not.

The Veteran's claims for service connection and initial evaluations are being remanded due to the need for additional evidence, including verification of periods of active military service and VA examinations.