The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the claims for service connection for a right knee disability, but not for a left knee disability. The claim for service connection for PTSD is remanded due to insufficient evidence of an inservice stressor. The claims for service connection for sleep apnea and hypertension are also remanded as VA examinations are required.
The deciding factor: The new evidence submitted by the Veteran does not provide sufficient material evidence to reopen the left knee disability claim, while the right knee disability claim is reopened based on a private medical opinion linking the current condition to an inservice injury. The PTSD and sleep apnea claims require additional VA examinations due to insufficient evidence of in-service stressors and objective symptoms.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Knee Disability, Left Knee Disability
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- December 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19192483
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,645 · Granted: 19% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19192483.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's service-connected knee disabilities are rated at 10% each, and the Board finds that higher ratings are not warranted based on the evidence of record.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral knee disabilities are not related to his active service, and thus denied both claims for service connection.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of a right knee disability, finding that there is no evidence to support an etiological relationship between his current condition and his military service.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's left knee disability is currently rated at 30 percent, and the Board finds no evidence of clear and unmistakable error in assigning an effective date of June 19, 2002.
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