The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection and TDIU must be remanded due to the need for additional development. Specifically, VA treatment records from December 2018 onwards are needed, as well as medical opinions regarding the etiology of her left knee disability, cervical spine disability, sleep disorder, and whether her sleep disorder is aggravated by her service-connected bipolar disorder.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there were insufficient opinions in previous VA examinations to address the Veteran's claims for service connection and TDIU. Therefore, additional development is needed to obtain updated treatment records and provide medical opinions on the etiology of her disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee degenerative joint disease, cervical spine degenerative disc disease with bilateral upper extremity radiculopathy, obstructive sleep disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19160497
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,374 · Granted: 19% (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 19160497.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for a VA examination to assess the severity of his left knee disability, including without considering the ameliorative effects of medication.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals were withdrawn, and his claims for increased ratings and service connection were dismissed. The Board found no evidence of ankylosis or other disabling conditions that would warrant higher ratings.
- Denied
The Veteran's left knee disability was not shown to be related to service or any service-connected conditions, and the Board denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected right and left knee degenerative joint disease with painful motion due to a lack of consideration of the ameliorative effects of medication use, specifically Gel-One knee injections and Motrin/ibuprofen.
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