The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for right knee and back disabilities due to inadequate medical opinions. The issues are whether these conditions are secondary to his service-connected left knee disability, or if they had their onset in service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner’s opinion was found to be inadequate as it did not address the relationship between the Veteran's current diagnoses and his service-connected left knee disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Right knee tendonitis/tendinosis, Right knee degenerative arthritis, Degenerative arthritis of the spine, Intervertebral disc syndrome
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- November 24, 2020
- Citation
- A20017469
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 A20017469.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for degenerative arthritis of the spine, right knee degenerative arthritis, left knee degenerative arthritis, right ankle degenerative arthritis, and left ankle degenerative arthritis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee and right knee degenerative arthritis, as well as his claim for a higher rating for his acquired psychiatric disorder. The appeal is not about service connection at all.
- Granted
The Veteran's low back disability is rated at 50 percent effective February 13, 2021. His left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy is rated at 80 percent from April 21, 2013 to February 12, 2021. The Veteran's TDIU claim has an earlier effective date of April 21, 2013.
- Granted
The Veteran's back condition is granted an increased disability rating of 40 percent, but no higher. The claims for service connection for LLE and RLE radiculopathies are remanded.
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