The Board has remanded the claim for service connection of left knee DJD, including as secondary to a service-connected lumbar spine disability. The case is returned for further review and adjudication.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion regarding direct service connection was inconclusive due to lack of contemporaneous medical evidence near service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD), status post left knee replacement with residual pain and limited range of motion
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 18, 2020
- Citation
- 20079995
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 Veteran's low back strain with pain and sacroiliitis with degenerative joint disease is currently rated at 20 percent, but the evidence does not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and SMC were denied. The left knee disability, including instability with DJD and painful motion, was rated at 30 percent since 1946. A separate 10 percent rating was granted for painful motion of the left knee. Prior to December 30, 2019, a noncompensable rating was assigned for left knee scarring; from that date onwards, a 10 percent rating was granted.
- Granted
The Board granted a 40% disability rating for the Veteran's lumbar disability from April 18, 2013 to July 22, 2015. The rating was denied in excess of 40% for the period from April 18, 2013 to February 14, 2017 and granted a 50% disability rating starting from February 15, 2017.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
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