The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral knee, ankle, and skin disabilities should be remanded due to inadequate medical nexus opinions in the original decision. The AOJ is instructed to obtain updated treatment records, provide an examination to determine the nature and etiology of these disabilities, and consider whether they are related to active service.
The deciding factor: The VA clinicians' opinions were found to be inadequate for VA adjudication purposes due to the lack of contemporaneous records documenting complaints or treatment. The Board finds that the Veteran's statements regarding in-service injury are credible and requires additional medical nexus opinions and examinations.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral knee disability, bilateral ankle disability, skin disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 28, 2022
- Citation
- A22023973
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 A22023973.
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 Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a bilateral shoulder disability and increased ratings for her bilateral knee disabilities, finding no evidence of in-service injury or disease related to these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for a neurological examination to determine if any diagnosed radiculopathy or other neurological disability affecting the lower extremities was caused or aggravated by service-connected conditions.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a bilateral ankle disability as secondary to his service-connected bilateral knee and low back disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's skin disability is remanded for a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of his condition, including whether it is related to service or toxic exposure risk activities. The Veteran also needs to provide authorization forms for private treatment records.
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