The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for a left knee disability, to include as secondary to his service-connected left achilles tendonitis. The case is being returned for further development and consideration of the etiology of the Veteran’s left knee disabilities.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide separate opinions regarding secondary causation and secondary aggravation in the April 2020 VA medical opinion, which was inadequate as it failed to reconcile lay and medical evidence suggesting a causal relationship between the Veteran's service-connected left achilles tendonitis and his left knee arthralgia.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee osteoarthritic condition, left achilles tendonitis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 29, 2020
- Citation
- 20050334
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 20050334.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for left achilles tendonitis, finding that new evidence received since the previous denial supports this determination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for various conditions due to missing VA records and unsuccessful attempts to retrieve private treatment records. The Veteran is advised to submit any available private information.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted service connection for left and right achilles tendonitis effective May 1, 2010. The decision is based on the facts found but not earlier than the date of receipt of his claim.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a rating higher than 10 percent for left achilles tendonitis was dismissed due to an impermissible concurrent election, and the claim for tinnitus was denied as there is no evidence of a disability picture outside the norm.
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