The Board has remanded the cases for additional development to obtain retrospective medical opinions regarding the Veteran's range of motion prior to August 16, 2019, and whether his disability is consistent with ankylosis or its functional equivalent.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide adequate clarification on whether the estimated functional loss during flare-ups was consistent with ankylosis or if it is the functional equivalent thereof prior to August 16, 2019.
- Claimed conditions
- chondromalacia, osteochondral lesion involving the medial femoral condyle, severe osteoarthritis (right knee), limitation of flexion
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 9, 2023
- Citation
- 23001288
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,316 · Granted: 43% (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 23001288.
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 granted a readjudication of the claim for service connection for right knee disorder. The claims for right leg shortening are remanded due to their inextricability with the right knee disorder claim.
- Granted
The Veteran's right knee disabilities were granted effective April 4, 2023.
- Denied
The Veteran's initial rating for left knee disability, characterized by painful motion but not ankylosis, flexion limited to 45 degrees or less, extension of 10 degrees or greater, instability, or subluxation, was denied as his symptoms did not warrant a higher rating.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected left knee disability is not productive of actual or functional flexion limited to 30 degrees, extension limited to 10 degrees, lateral instability or recurrent subluxation, ankylosis, impairment of the tibia and fibula, dislocated semilunar cartilage, symptomatic removal of semilunar cartilage, or genu recurvatum. Therefore, his claim for an evaluation in excess of 10 percent is denied.
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