The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims of service connection for left and right knee disabilities due to new evidence received since the August 2009 rating decision. The case is remanded for further examination and opinion regarding the nature and likely cause of his bilateral knee disabilities, as well as the current severity of his service-connected right shoulder disability.
The deciding factor: The Board found that new evidence post-dating the August 2009 rating decision provided a nexus between the Veteran's knee disabilities and military service, thus reopening the claims. The case is remanded for further examination to determine the nature and likely cause of the knee disabilities and assess the current severity of the right shoulder disability.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee degenerative disease, right knee degenerative disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 2, 2018
- Citation
- 18123476
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 18123476.
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 Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for bilateral hearing loss, left knee strain, and right knee degenerative disease due to incomplete development of evidence. The VA needs to obtain audiograms from May 2016 and June 2018, conduct a new VA examination for bilateral hearing loss, and provide an Addendum Opinion regarding the Veteran's bilateral knee disorder.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for other specified depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, and increased the ratings for thoracic spine degenerative changes, right knee degenerative disease, left knee degenerative disease, and right shoulder degenerative joint disease.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issues of entitlement to service connection for left knee degenerative disease, right knee degenerative disease, and right ankle condition due to a need for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases due to inadequate reasoning in previous decisions and a need for new opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's knee and ankle conditions.
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