The Board has decided that the Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee osteoarthritis, right knee osteoarthritis, and chronic depression (secondary to bilateral knee osteoarthritis) must be remanded due to insufficient evidence in the VA examiner's opinion.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not acknowledge the in-service diagnoses of patellofemoral pain syndrome of the left knee and right knee ligament strain, which raises questions about the accuracy of their opinions regarding the current disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee osteoarthritis, right knee osteoarthritis, chronic depression
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 29, 2018
- Citation
- 18130109
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 18130109.
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 expanded the scope of the claim for major depression to encompass any mental health disability raised by the record and has remanded six issues for additional development.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the issue of entitlement to service connection for chronic depression.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded several claims for further action, including effective date determinations and service connection determinations. The Veteran's service records from Portsmouth Naval Hospital are requested to be obtained.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal has been dismissed as he withdrew his appeal prior to the Board making a decision.
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