The Veteran's claims for service connection for a left knee disability and sleep apnea are remanded due to inadequate VA opinions. The VA needs to provide an opinion on whether the disabilities are secondary to his service-connected right knee disability and atrial fibrillation, respectively.
The deciding factor: VA failed to provide adequate opinions regarding the nature of the Veteran's left knee conditions and their relationship to his service-connected right knee disability, as well as the etiology of his sleep apnea in relation to his service-connected atrial fibrillation.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee osteoarthritis, recurrent patella dislocation, riding lateral patella
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19148907
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for hypertension and remanded the claims for bilateral tinnitus, right knee osteoarthritis, and left knee osteoarthritis due to inadequate medical evidence.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral knee, bilateral shoulder, low back and bilateral hip disabilities based on the evidence showing that these conditions are related to the Veteran's active military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal was remanded for the AOJ to provide the Veteran with notice concerning his right to a hearing under 38 C.F.R. § 3.103(b)(1) and (d)(1).
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