The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the service-connected left ankle disability caused obesity, which in turn may have contributed to the Veteran's current left knee arthritis.
The deciding factor: The examiner is needed to determine if the service-connected left ankle disability caused obesity and if this obesity substantially contributed to the development of the Veteran's left knee arthritis.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee arthritis, obesity
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19106914
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.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection for obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, and hypertension.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a restoration of the separate 10 percent rating for vertigo, an earlier effective date for service connection for vertigo and migraines, and a 30 percent rating for hypothyroidism with heart murmur. The decision also denied an earlier effective date for hypertension and remanded claims for obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, and individual unemployability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for several conditions, including OSA, cervical spine condition, left shoulder condition, right shoulder condition, and others, but dismissed appeals for obesity, TMJ, insomnia, left elbow, and right elbow. The Board also denied an earlier effective date for a 70% rating for acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew her appeals for service connection for various conditions, including arrhythmia and migraine headaches.
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