The Board has remanded the claims for higher initial ratings for bilateral knee instability and chondromalacia due to incomplete findings in previous VA examinations and conflicting medical records.
The deciding factor: Incomplete findings and conflicting medical records necessitate further examination to determine current severity of the Veteran's bilateral knee conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Medial-lateral instability of the left knee, Chondromalacia of the left knee, Medial-lateral instability of the right knee, Chondromalacia of the right knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19101400
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 Board granted a separate 20 percent rating for left knee chondromalacia under Diagnostic Code 5258, effective January 4, 2001.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings in excess of 10 percent for the Veteran's chondromalacia of the right knee and chondromalacia of the left knee.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability from April 4, 2009, to July 9, 2015.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his right and left knee disabilities, except that it granted a 10 percent rating for instability of the right knee prior to September 28, 2018, and a 20 percent rating from that date. The Board also granted a 10 percent rating for instability of the left knee.
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