The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his right knee disabilities due to inadequate VA medical examinations and further development is needed.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations were not adequate as they did not provide estimates of range of motion loss during flare-ups and following repetitive use over time, which was required by the Court’s recent holding in Sharp v. Shulkin.
- Claimed conditions
- Right knee arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 27, 2020
- Citation
- 20069265
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for degenerative disc disease with scoliosis, right knee arthritis, and degenerative joint disease of the left knee with meniscal tear, finding that there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between these conditions and VA treatment.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a left foot disability (other than callosities) and a right hip disability, as well as increased ratings for an acquired psychiatric disorder, bilateral foot disability prior to July 6, 2020, lumbar spine disability, right knee instability prior to October 2, 2019, and left knee instability. However, it denied increased ratings for the bilateral foot disability since July 26, 2020, right knee arthritis, left knee arthritis, and right knee instability since October 2, 2019.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board is remanding the matters for clarification from the private examiner as to whether a goniometer was used, and will defer further adjudication until such clarification is provided.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's requests for extensions of time to file Board Appeal requests were denied, and the attempted appeals were dismissed.
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