The Board has found pre-decisional duty to assist errors in the VA examinations for bilateral knee conditions and left ankle disability, requiring a remand to rectify prior to adjudication of the Veteran's claims.
The deciding factor: The examination reports were internally inconsistent and contradictory, failing to address or reconcile the Veteran's reported functional limitations and pain during flare-ups and repetitive use.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee osteoarthritis with patellofemoral pain syndrome, right knee osteoarthritis with patellofemoral pain syndrome, residuals of a left ankle injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 13, 2022
- Citation
- A22020712
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 A22020712.
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 for left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome and right knee osteoarthritis with patellofemoral pain syndrome was granted effective August 2, 2017.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to his service-connected disabilities not meeting the threshold requirement for consideration of schedular TDIU. The Board found that the Veteran is able to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation despite his bilateral knee disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his left and right knee conditions, as well as a compensable rating for scars of the right knee.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for a left knee disability, service connection for a neck disability, service connection for a right knee disability, and service connection for hypertension due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
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