The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for her service-connected right ankle and bilateral knee disabilities are remanded due to inadequate VA examinations. The Board requires new examinations that comply with the requirements of Correia v. McDonald, including testing passive range of motion and providing opinions on additional functional loss during flare-ups.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations did not include adequate information regarding passive range of motion testing and failed to provide opinions on additional functional loss due to flare-ups.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of right Achilles tendon rupture status post repair, left knee patellofemoral syndrome with arthritis, right knee patellofemoral degeneration with arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 8, 2023
- Citation
- A23031377
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 A23031377.
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 remands the claims for a new examination to address the ameliorative effects of medication and other issues.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection have been granted, with effective dates ranging from March 16, 2001 to January 4, 2008. The conditions were related to his military service and the VA has assigned full ratings (100%) for all granted issues.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities (lumbosacral strain, left knee patellofemoral syndrome with arthritis, right knee patellofemoral syndrome with arthritis, and right shoulder limitation of motion) rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation from December 30, 2011, to July 30, 2014.
- Denied
The Veteran's initial claim for a higher rating for chronic lumbosacral strain was denied. A 40 percent disability rating, but not higher, was granted from January 8, 2015 to August 15, 2019 for the Veteran’s chronic lumbosacral strain. The Veteran's left and right knee conditions were also rated based on their specific disabilities.
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