The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for heart condition, degenerative arthritis of the spine, left knee arthritis, and right knee arthritis due to inadequate medical opinions addressing continuity of symptomatology.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner failed to adequately address the Veteran's lay statements regarding his in-service injuries and self-treatment, leading to an incomplete opinion on the nature and etiology of his back and knee conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Heart condition, Degenerative arthritis of the spine, Left knee arthritis, Right knee arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 25, 2020
- Citation
- 20063139
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 20063139.
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 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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for service connection of a heart condition is dismissed as the Board has already granted it. The appeal for increased rating of PTSD is also dismissed due to the grant of service connection.
- 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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