The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral knee disorders due to insufficient medical opinion addressing all theories of etiology, including secondary service connection and post-service development over time. The AOJ is required to obtain a new VA addendum opinion and provide additional notice regarding alternative sources of evidence.
The deciding factor: The Board found the April 2016 VA examination inadequate as it did not address all reasonable theories of etiology, including secondary service connection for post-service development over time due to in-service duties.
- Claimed conditions
- RIGHT knee disorder, LEFT knee disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 6, 2022
- Citation
- 22026885
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 22026885.
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 for LEFT knee disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, and residuals of a staph infection due to incomplete records and need for further development.
- Granted
Service connection is granted for headaches, hypertension, bilateral hearing loss disability, and thoracolumbar spine disorder.,Service connection is denied for hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), RIGHT ankle disorder, LEFT knee disorder, RIGHT knee disorder, radiculopathy of the RIGHT lower extremity, radiculopathy of the LEFT lower extremity, and cervical spine / neck disorder.,Service connection is remanded for radiculopathy of the RIGHT upper extremity and radiculopathy of the LEFT upper extremity.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for hepatitis C has been dismissed due to the Veteran's withdrawal. The appeals for increased rating for anxiety and depression, service connection for low back disorder, knee disorders, bilateral hearing loss disability, and tinnitus are all remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's LEFT knee disorder is found to be related to his service-connected RIGHT knee disability and other disabilities, allowing for secondary service connection.
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