The Board has denied the Veteran's increased rating claim for his right knee disability and remanded the issues of service connection for a lower back condition secondary to his right knee disability, and an increased rating for his left shoulder disability.
The deciding factor: The decision was based on the lack of evidence linking the Veteran's current conditions to his active service or service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease, Lower Back Condition
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19125700
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 requests for revision of an April 1996 rating decision on the basis of clear and unmistakable error (CUE) regarding initial ratings for depression, residuals of palatopharyngoplasty, and service connection for a lower back condition.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and remanded the claims for a lower back condition, an acquired psychiatric disorder other than PTSD, and bilateral hearing loss.
- Granted
The Veteran's knee disabilities have been rated based on their effects on his ability to perform activities of daily living, with a 30 percent rating for post-operative residuals and a 40 percent rating for limited extension. A separate 10 percent rating has also been granted for symptomatic removal of semilunar cartilage.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for degenerative joint disease of the left and right feet has been granted with a rating of 20 percent each. However, his request for TDIU remains pending as it was not initially addressed by the AOJ.
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