The Board is remanding the case to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether rheumatoid arthritis was proximately caused or aggravated by left knee osteoarthritic changes, including any medication used for treatment.
The deciding factor: The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims held that causation and aggravation are independent concepts and should have separate findings and rationales.
- Claimed conditions
- rheumatoid arthritis, left knee osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19115923
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 19115923.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection, higher ratings, and earlier effective dates, as well as dismissed his claim for a TDIU.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and systemic lupus erythematosus as there was no evidence of onset during active service or etiological relationship to an in-service injury, event, or disease.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for rheumatoid arthritis, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor based on chronic symptoms shown during service and continuity of those symptoms since service.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for rheumatoid arthritis was dismissed due to a untimely notice of disagreement. The left knee disorder claim is remanded for further action.
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