The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his right knee and back disabilities, as well as his claim for service connection for sleep apnea. The cases are being remanded to obtain additional medical opinions regarding functional loss and symptomatology related to the Veteran's conditions.
The deciding factor: The Court granted a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR) that vacated the Board’s February 2019 denial of the Veteran’s claims, finding inadequate VA examinations in July 2016 and October 2017. The cases are being remanded to obtain additional medical opinions addressing functional loss and symptomatology related to the Veteran's conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee chondromalacia status post with synovectomy, chondroplasty, partial medial meniscectomy, and plica excision with osteochondral defect, lumbosacral strain with degenerative changes
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 2, 2020
- Citation
- 20037515
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 20037515.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for a rating in excess of 20 percent for his left knee disability is dismissed.,Service connection has been granted for lumbosacral strain with degenerative changes and bilateral hip acetabular tears, which are found to be proximately due to his service-connected left knee disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issues of entitlement to increased ratings for lumbosacral strain with degenerative changes, right lower extremity radiculopathy, and left lower extremity radiculopathy due to insufficient evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 20 percent for lumbosacral strain with degenerative changes, as the evidence did not support a higher disability rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for higher initial disability ratings for various conditions are being remanded due to the need to obtain outstanding treatment records from TRICARE.
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