The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for left knee and left ankle disabilities due to inadequate examination reports, including a lack of consideration of recent treatment records. The Veteran will need to provide updated private and VA treatment records, and he will be scheduled for a VA examination.
The deciding factor: The examination reports are deemed inadequate as they do not consider the most recent treatment records and fail to provide a contemporaneous disability picture after the prescribed period of convalescence following his total knee replacement surgery.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee degenerative joint disease (left knee disability), left ankle degenerative joint disease (left ankle disability)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 14, 2020
- Citation
- 20047138
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 20047138.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that a remand is necessary to correct the pre-decisional duty to assist error and obtain an adequate VA examination for the Veteran's left knee disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, increased ratings for lumbar spine disability and bilateral knee disabilities due to difficulties in contacting the Veteran.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for left knee disability, back disability, and right hip disability due to a lack of evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for further medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's right foot condition, left knee disability, and hypertension. The VA will need to provide new opinions addressing whether these conditions are related to his active service, including exposure to burn pits.
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