The Board has remanded the claims for increased ratings of right knee and right ankle disabilities due to insufficient information from previous VA examinations. The Veteran's service-connected conditions include degenerative joint disease in both knees and one ankle.
The deciding factor: Further clarification is needed regarding the severity of the Veteran’s bilateral knees and right ankle based on recent VA examination results.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee degenerative joint disease, left knee degenerative joint disease, right ankle degenerative joint disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 19, 2020
- Citation
- 20067491
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,044 · Granted: 21% (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 20067491.
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 Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for a VA examination to assess the severity of his left knee disability, including without considering the ameliorative effects of medication.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for right knee degenerative joint disease, including secondary to a service-connected left knee disability, is granted. The condition was not related to military service and no aggravation by the service-connected left knee disability could be established.
- Denied
The Veteran's left knee disability was not shown to be related to service or any service-connected conditions, and the Board denied his claim for service connection.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals were withdrawn, and his claims for increased ratings and service connection were dismissed. The Board found no evidence of ankylosis or other disabling conditions that would warrant higher ratings.
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