The Board has remanded the claims for service connection and rating of the Veteran's knee disorders, low back disorder, muscle spasms, neurotoxic exposure, and sleep disorder due to incomplete examination reports and procedural issues.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations provided were insufficient in addressing the severity of the Veteran's knee conditions and the nature and etiology of his right knee disorder. The examiner was unable to provide specific measurements for range of motion testing or address whether the Veteran has a left knee meniscal tear with frequent episodes of 'locking', pain, and effusion into the joint.
- Claimed conditions
- low back spasm, left knee chondromalacia with medial meniscal derangement and patellar spurring, right knee disorder
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 6, 2021
- Citation
- 21062018
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,990 · Granted: 35% (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 21062018.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to errors in obtaining relevant medical records and authorization for private treatment providers. The issues include heart disorder, OSA, sinusitis, lumbar spine disorder, and right knee disorder all related to Agent Orange exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error, and will need an opinion regarding whether the Veteran's right knee disorder is related to his parachute jumps during service.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's request to readjudicate his claims for service connection for a lumbar spine disorder and obstructive sleep apnea, but denied his claim for right knee disorder. The Board also remanded the cases of left leg disorder and lumbar spine disorder.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, right lower extremity radiculopathy, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and a right knee disorder. The evidence did not meet the criteria for direct service connection as there was no in-service diagnosis or continuity of symptomatology.
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