The Board has remanded the claims for a separate disability rating under Diagnostic Code 5257 for the Veteran's service-connected right and left knee disabilities due to lack of substantial compliance with previous remand directives.
The deciding factor: The VA is unable to limit Diagnostic Code 5257 to lateral instability of the ligaments, as it provides compensation for 'impairments of the knee, other than those enumerated elsewhere in the relevant regulations, that cause the symptoms of recurrent subluxation or lateral instability,' without further qualification.
- Claimed conditions
- Right knee disability, Left knee disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20068061
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 granted service connection for chronic headaches, CFS, dermatosis, bilateral RLS, a lumbar spine disability, and sleep apnea but denied a compensable evaluation for allergic rhinitis.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the claims for an initial compensable rating for left ear sensorineural hearing loss, service connection for a right ear hearing loss disability, and a left eye disorder. However, it granted service connection for a back disability and radiculopathy of both lower extremities as secondary to the back disability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a right knee disability and PTSD, remanded several claims including those for a left knee disability, right shoulder disability, hypertension, craniomandibular disorder, and a compensable rating for residuals of a right femur fracture.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for various disabilities and granted earlier effective dates for service connection of scars, but denied an earlier effective date for individual unemployability.
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