The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the etiology of the Veteran's right knee disability, specifically whether it is caused or aggravated by his service-connected left knee disability.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner’s opinion was inadequate as it did not address the potential aggravation of the right knee disabilities and did not consider the Veteran's lay assertions.
- Claimed conditions
- Right knee chondromalacia, Right knee arthritis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19148042
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 compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for degenerative disc disease with scoliosis, right knee arthritis, and degenerative joint disease of the left knee with meniscal tear, finding that there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between these conditions and VA treatment.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development and readjudication due to non-compliance with previous remand instructions.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a left foot disability (other than callosities) and a right hip disability, as well as increased ratings for an acquired psychiatric disorder, bilateral foot disability prior to July 6, 2020, lumbar spine disability, right knee instability prior to October 2, 2019, and left knee instability. However, it denied increased ratings for the bilateral foot disability since July 26, 2020, right knee arthritis, left knee arthritis, and right knee instability since October 2, 2019.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board is remanding the matters for clarification from the private examiner as to whether a goniometer was used, and will defer further adjudication until such clarification is provided.
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