The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for right knee and right hand disabilities due to insufficient examination findings regarding functional loss during flare-ups and repetitive use, as well as outdated rating criteria.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner was unable to describe range of motion in terms of flares or repetitive use, which is required by law. The Board must consider both old and new rating criteria for instability/subluxation.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Knee Arthritis, Right Hand Traumatic Arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 27, 2023
- Citation
- 23018672
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 23018672.
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 Veteran's claim for a higher rating prior to August 12, 2013 was denied as his right knee disability did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under Diagnostic Code 5003.,The Veteran's claim for a higher rating from April 1, 2016 was denied as he is already receiving the maximum allowable disability rating of 60 percent for total right knee replacement.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings and service connection were denied. The rating for PTSD was not granted, and the claims for left foot neuropathy, right foot neuropathy, left knee arthroplasty and rheumatoid arthritis, and right knee arthritis were also denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's right knee disability is found to have resulted from his active service, and the Board has granted service connection for this condition.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's right knee disability, finding that it is caused by his service-connected left knee disability.
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