The Board remands the case for an examination to determine the nature and etiology of any current psychiatric disorder, as well as to properly evaluate the current severity of the veteran's bilateral knee condition.
The deciding factor: An opinion from a private psychiatrist indicates that the veteran's medical condition has had an impact on his mental conditions, necessitating a secondary service connection examination. The veteran also argues that his most recent VA joints examination was inadequate for rating purposes.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease (DJD) of the left knee, Degenerative joint disease (DJD) of the right knee, Acquired psychiatric disorder, claimed as secondary to DJD of the bilateral knees
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 5, 2009
- Citation
- 0900209
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding a causal relationship between the condition and an in-service incident of military sexual trauma (MST).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 29, 2019 for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder but denied earlier effective dates and increased ratings for other conditions.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, a right knee disorder, and a lumbar spine disorder.
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