The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection of right ankle, left knee, and right knee disorders due to inconsistencies in the VA examiner's opinions regarding these conditions. The cases are pending further development and evaluation.
The deciding factor: The inconsistency in the VA examiner's findings necessitates additional evaluations and opinions to resolve the conflicting diagnoses and etiological relationships.
- Claimed conditions
- Right ankle disorder unspecified, Left knee arthritis, Left knee meniscus tear, Total knee replacement in right knee, Meniscal tear in right knee
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 22, 2021
- Citation
- 21076242
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 21076242.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions have been granted, including back disability, tinea pedis and tinea unguium, right foot degenerative changes, left hip disability, left knee arthritis, and psychiatric disabilities. The Board also found that the bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy is secondary to his back disability.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, right knee arthritis, and left knee arthritis. The claims for PTSD and radiculopathy are remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for right knee disability and left knee arthritis due to insufficient reasoning in previous decisions, including a lack of adequate examination regarding the nature and etiology of his right knee disability. The Court also found that there was an issue with missing service treatment records.
- Granted
The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including unspecified schizophrenia and other psychotic disorder, moderate cocaine use disorder, severe marijuana use disorder, is granted as service connected. PTSD was denied due to lack of a valid diagnosis.
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