The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected right knee, left knee, pulmonary embolus and residuals, and irritable bowel syndrome are remanded due to the need for additional examinations.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that further examination is necessary to determine the current severity of the Veteran's service-connected disabilities and to provide a basis for rating decisions.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Knee (Post-Total Arthroplasty), Left Knee Degenerative Joint Disease, Pulmonary Embolus and Residuals, Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19169882
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 19169882.
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 decided to remand the case due to a lack of rationale in the VA examiner's opinion and an inconsistency between the examination report and nexus opinion.
- Granted
The Veteran's left knee disability is rated at 40 percent for limitation of extension, effective December 18, 2025. The Veteran also received separate ratings for instability and dislocation of semilunar cartilage.
- Granted
The Veteran's irritable bowel syndrome is granted a rating of 30 percent, the maximum schedular rating under Diagnostic Code 7319. Service connection for migraine headaches as secondary to service connected tinnitus and PTSD is also granted.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's request for an earlier effective date of May 19, 2024, for a separate 10 percent rating for GERD. The decision states that prior to this date, ratings for GERD and Irritable Bowel Syndrome could not be combined due to VA regulations at the time.
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