The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining VA and private treatment records, scheduling a VA examination to assess the severity of his service-connected lower back disability, right knee instability, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and determining if there are any new or material pieces of evidence that could support reopening of his claims.
The deciding factor: The current medical opinions regarding the Veteran's service connection claims are inadequate for rating purposes. The VA examinations did not meet the requirements of 38 C.F.R. § 4.59, and the GERD examination report is insufficient to determine the severity of the condition without considering the effects of medication.
- Claimed conditions
- lower back trauma, osteochondritis dissecans of the left knee, degenerative joint disease of the right knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 14, 2017
- Citation
- 1721724
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 1721724.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his bilateral hips and right knee are being remanded due to duty-to-assist errors. The VA is required to obtain the Veteran's SSA disability benefits records, provide supplemental opinions regarding the ameliorative effects of medication on his hip and knee disabilities, and correct any duty-to-assist errors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his right and left knee disabilities, as well as his right knee scar. The RO must attempt to obtain all available private treatment records from the Tennessee Orthopedic Clinic.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for degenerative joint disease of the left (non-dominant) shoulder, right knee, and left knee are being remanded due to a failure to issue a Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC).,The Veteran's claim for TDIU is also being remanded as it was denied in the most recent rating decision without an SSOC having been issued.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to service-connected disabilities, finding that his combined schedular ratings did not meet the threshold requirement for consideration of TDIU. The case was remanded multiple times and ultimately denied again.
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