The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for bilateral knee disabilities are remanded due to an inadequate October 2018 VA examination. A new examination is needed that includes information about flare-ups and estimates any functional impact, including the point at which painful motion begins during range of motion testing.
The deciding factor: The October 2018 VA examination was inadequate as it did not provide sufficient detail regarding the severity, frequency, duration, precipitating and alleviating factors, or extent of functional impairment during flare-ups or repetitive use over time from the Veteran. The examiner also failed to indicate at what point painful motion begins on range of motion testing.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee arthritis, arthritis of the right knee, instability of the right knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19121962
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,104 · Granted: 28% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19121962.
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 her appeal regarding the service connection for left and right knee arthritis, thus the appeal is dismissed.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and dismissed all other appeals related to various joint conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for specially adapted housing or a special home adaptation grant due to lack of functional impairment. The Board has determined that a VA examination is needed to determine if any service-connected disability results in loss of use of both lower extremities, one lower extremity and one upper extremity, or residuals affecting balance and propulsion.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for special monthly compensation (SMC) pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s) is denied because he does not have a single service-connected disability rated as 100 percent disabling, and his disabilities do not meet the requirements of SMC under this section.
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