The Board is remanding the claims for service connection for various disabilities secondary to service-connected knee disabilities.,The Board is also remanding the claim for service connection for sleep apnea and hypertension as they are inextricably intertwined with other pending claims.,The Board is remanding the issues of increased ratings for right and left knee disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has not provided sufficient evidence to establish a causal link between his service-connected knee disabilities and the claimed conditions. The VA examiners have provided opinions that are inadequate, as they did not address causation or aggravation.,The claims of sleep apnea and hypertension are being remanded due to their inextricable connection with other pending claims.,The Veteran's knee disabilities have not been adequately evaluated by the VA examiners. The examiners failed to provide an adequate explanation for their opinions regarding functional loss during flare-ups.
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder impingement, right shoulder arthritis, lumbar arthritis, status-post distal left ankle, right foot hallux valgus, left foot arthritis, bilateral hip pain
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19151903
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,092 · Granted: 42% (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 19151903.
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's appeal was dismissed due to their death during the pendency of the appeal. The Board cannot issue a decision on the merits as they have no jurisdiction.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to errors in considering all conditions and a need for an addendum opinion regarding the relationship between the Veteran's current right great toe / foot disability and his claimed frostbite injury.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's November 2018 notice of disagreement was timely, and the appeal is remanded for further review.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed all appeals for service connection and increased rating claims due to untimely Notice of Disagreement submissions.
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