The Veteran's TDIU claim has been granted. The Board is remanding the rating claims for additional examinations to assess the functional impact of flare-ups on his knee and lumbar spine disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s employment history indicates he was unable to secure or maintain gainful employment due to his service-connected disabilities, particularly his knees and back issues.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) of the right knee, Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) of the left knee, DDD of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19190236
Veterans Law Judge
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 19190236.
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 an increased disability rating in excess of 10 percent for left knee DJD from October 1, 2008 to August 30, 2010 due to the lack of evidence showing limitation of flexion or extension that would warrant a higher rating.
- Granted
The Board granted an initial 30 percent rating for the Veteran's service-connected DJD of the left knee and left knee lateral instability, from December 15, 2009, to September 5, 2014.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for DDD of the lumbar spine and remanded issues related to a left hip condition, colon cancer status post colon resection, and right foot and right hip conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter to obtain a new VA medical opinion regarding the severity of the left knee DJD without the ameliorative effects of medication during the limited appeal period.
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