The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for higher ratings for his service-connected right and left knee disabilities due to inadequate VA examinations, duty to assist errors, and need for additional medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the October 2019 VA examiner’s opinion was inadequate for rating purposes and that there were duty to assist errors related to missing relevant records in the Veteran's file. The Board also noted a need for an addendum VA medical opinion regarding functional loss during flare-ups.
- Claimed conditions
- Right knee strain, Left knee arthritis with tendonitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 7, 2020
- Citation
- A20017989
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, while remanding claims for depression, anxiety, sleep disorder, right knee strain, left knee strain, and lumbar spine strain.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss, bilateral tinnitus, facial numbness (Bell's palsy), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and right knee strain. The claims for a left knee strain, major depressive disorder with anxious distress, cervical neck strain, lumbosacral strain, and bilateral foot disability were remanded.
- Denied
The appeal for an increased rating for left hip, the claims for entitlement to an earlier effective date and an increased rating for right knee strain, and the appeal for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for left shoulder strain were dismissed. The claim for a 40 percent rating from June 24, 2021 for degenerative disc disease was granted.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right knee strain, left knee strain, and left ankle strain but denied a rating in excess of 20 percent for the service-connected injury to flexors (Group VII) of fingers/thumb, an initial compensable rating for recurrent bronchitis, and service connection for bilateral hearing loss.
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