The Board has remanded the case for another VA examination to determine the current severity of the Veteran's service-connected right knee disability, including testing active motion, passive motion, and pain with weight-bearing and without weight-bearing. The examiner must also provide information regarding the severity, frequency, and duration of any flare-ups, and the degree of functional loss during flare-ups.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the January 2017 VA examination was inadequate under Sharp v. Shulkin, 29 Vet. App. 26 (2017), as it did not address the severity, frequency, and duration of any flare-ups prior to the Veteran's knee surgery.
- Claimed conditions
- right total knee replacement (previously rated as anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with degenerative joint disease)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 13, 2020
- Citation
- 20073090
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
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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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