The Board has decided that the Veteran's bilateral knee disability is not service-connected, as there was no evidence of degenerative joint disease in either knee on x-rays and the examiner stated that the Veteran had not mentioned any knee complaints to VA where he sought care. However, a new examination by an orthopedic specialist is needed due to the inadequate opinion.
The deciding factor: The previous examination report for the bilateral knee disability was inadequate as it did not consider all relevant evidence including the RO's September 2013 decision and the Veteran's statements regarding his service experiences.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral knee disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 27, 2017
- Citation
- 1729735
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 1729735.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a bilateral shoulder disability and increased ratings for her bilateral knee disabilities, finding no evidence of in-service injury or disease related to these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for a neurological examination to determine if any diagnosed radiculopathy or other neurological disability affecting the lower extremities was caused or aggravated by service-connected conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected knee disabilities were granted effective from January 2, 2022. The Board also remanded other issues including back and skin disorders.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has dismissed the issues of higher initial ratings for service-connected bilateral knee disability, migraine variants, and bilateral hearing loss as well as service connection for generalized anxiety disorder. The issues of service connection for right elbow lateral epicondylitis and left elbow lateral epicondylitis are remanded due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology. Service connection for depression is also remanded due to conflicting diagnoses.
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