The Veteran's claims of service connection for disabilities of the knees and right ankle are being remanded due to insufficient evidence. The initial rating claim for left ankle arthralgia is deferred until all pertinent evidence is assembled.
The deciding factor: Insufficient VA treatment records were provided, and further development is needed to determine if current knee and right ankle disabilities are related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- left ankle arthralgia, right ankle arthralgia, lumbosacral spine disability, bilateral knee chondromalacia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 6, 2012
- Citation
- 1226977
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 1226977.
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.
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The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for a disability rating in excess of 20 percent for his lumbosacral spine disability and for TDIU based on that condition due to inadequate examination. The case is being returned for further development.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a lumbosacral spine disability, finding that there is no evidence to support a link between the condition and active duty service or any other factor.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's sleep apnea is being remanded for a VA examination to determine if it is proximately due to or has undergone any incremental increase in disability due to his service-connected mental health, back, and shoulder disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU are remanded due to a duty-to-assist error in the previous VA examination, which did not discount the ameliorative effects of her pain medication. The case is also remanded for consideration of TDIU as part of the evaluation of her back disability.
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