The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of his claimed back disorder and knee disability.
The deciding factor: Additional evidence is needed to properly adjudicate the claims due to changes in the Veteran's condition since the last examination.
- Claimed conditions
- Back Condition, Left Knee Degenerative Joint Disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 20, 2018
- Citation
- 1810600
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 1810600.
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 Veteran's left knee disability is rated at 40 percent for limitation of extension, effective December 18, 2025. The Veteran also received separate ratings for instability and dislocation of semilunar cartilage.
- Denied
The August 1996 rating decision denied service connection for a back condition due to the claim being considered not well-grounded, as there was no current disability and no evidence of in-service injury or disease.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error in the VA examination for service connection of the back condition and requires an addendum opinion to address whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's back disability began in service or was caused by any incident of service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for increased ratings and earlier effective dates are remanded due to inadequate examination.
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