The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate VA examination, and a new opinion is required regarding whether the Veteran's left knee condition is causally related to active service.
The deciding factor: The August 2013 VA examiner’s opinion was deemed inadequate as it did not consider evidence of continuity of symptoms and a private medical opinion that suggested a possible link between the Veteran's worsening left knee condition and his pre-existing osteoarthritis, rather than his work-related injury in September 2009.
- Claimed conditions
- Left knee injury, Osteoarthritis, Meniscal tear
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 26, 2018
- Citation
- 18160363
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 18160363.
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.
- Partly granted
The Veteran is granted an effective date of October 21, 2019, for a disability rating of 30 percent for left knee meniscal tear, ACL tear, and osteoarthritis status post left total knee replacement.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for osteoarthritis and a neck disability, finding that the evidence does not support a causal relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's active service.
- Granted
The Board granted the restoration of a 50 percent rating for bilateral pes planus and osteoarthritis, effective January 21, 2024.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, bilateral upper extremities pain, an acquired psychiatric disorder (depression), and squamous cell carcinoma of the anus as secondary to service-connected hepatitis C. However, psoriatic arthritis was denied.
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