The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral knee scars, left and right total knee replacements, as well as SMC based on housebound status from January 1, 2016. The claims are being remanded due to the need for VA examinations.
The deciding factor: The claims were previously remanded in May 2018 for further development, including VA examinations. However, the Veteran failed to attend scheduled examinations and provided conflicting information about his availability. As a result, new VA examinations are necessary to evaluate the nature and etiology of the Veteran's knee disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral knee scars, status post left total knee replacement, status post right total knee replacement
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20067974
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,164 · Granted: 31% (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 20067974.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for the veteran's right and left knee disorders, but granted a 10 percent rating for painful left anterior knee scars.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for sleep apnea and bilateral hip arthritis, but denied service connection for bilateral shoulder arthritis. The decision also denied increased ratings for knee disabilities and a compensable rating for PFB.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted TDIU prior to October 1, 2023, but the case is remanded for extraschedular consideration of TDIU from October 1, 2023.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for increased ratings, service connection, and a temporary total evaluation due to inadequate examinations in previous remands. The Veteran's knee disabilities are being examined again to assess their severity, including flare-ups, and his left hip disability is being evaluated with consideration of its relationship to his knee disabilities.
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