The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee osteoarthritis and right knee tricompartmental osteoarthritis due to inadequate examination in October 2018. The examiner is asked to address whether these conditions are at least as likely as not aggravated by his service-connected low back disability.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not fully address the Veteran's theory of secondary service connection, specifically his contention that his low back disability causes him to favor one leg over another, leading to increased pressure on the other knee joint.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee osteoarthritis, right knee tricompartmental osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19160787
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,669 · Granted: 23% (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 19160787.
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 Board has determined that the VA examinations provided for the Veteran's knee and palatal tympanic myocronus claims were inadequate, and thus these cases must be remanded to obtain new evaluations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, but has remanded the cases of left knee and lumbar spine disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims of service connection for left and right knee disabilities are being remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding the relationship between his service-connected right ankle degenerative arthritis and his current knee conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran was eligible for beneficiary travel benefits to attend a VA medical appointment on March 16, 2021 due to his service-connected conditions. The Board found that the nearest available clinic provided the required care and that the Veteran's statements were credible and consistent with the evidence.
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