The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for bilateral knee disorder and bilateral ankle gout due to insufficient rationale in a previous VA opinion. The case is sent back for further development, including obtaining an addendum opinion from an appropriate VA examiner.
The deciding factor: The prior VA opinion did not provide sufficient rationale regarding whether any current disability arose during service or was related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral knee disorder, bilateral ankle gout
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20067350
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,738 · Granted: 17% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 20067350.
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 a thoracolumbar spine disability, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss disorder, gout, multiple painful joints, bilateral ankle disorder, bilateral knee disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted an earlier effective date of January 28, 2019 for the establishment of entitlement to SMC based on aid and attendance. The issue of a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for residuals of tonsillectomy with dysphagia is remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted an earlier effective date of January 28, 2019 for the establishment of entitlement to SMC based on aid and attendance. The issue of a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for residuals of tonsillectomy with dysphagia is remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that service connection is granted for fibromyalgia and tinnitus. The remaining claims of service connection for a back disorder, bilateral knee disorder, bilateral hip disorder, and cervical cancer are remanded due to procedural errors.
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