The Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee and left ankle disabilities are being remanded due to the need for new VA examinations to assess the current severity of these conditions, as well as their relationship to his service-connected right knee, right hip, and right ankle disabilities.
The deciding factor: New evidence has been submitted that relates to unestablished facts necessary to substantiate the Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee and left ankle disabilities. The VA examinations provided in April 2018 were inadequate as they did not address whether the left knee and left ankle conditions are secondary to his service-connected right knee, right hip, and right ankle disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Knee Disability, Left Ankle Disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 15, 2023
- Citation
- 23045096
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 23045096.
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 service-connected knee disabilities are rated at 10% each, and the Board finds that higher ratings are not warranted based on the evidence of record.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral knee disabilities are not related to his active service, and thus denied both claims for service connection.
- Denied
The Veteran's left knee disability is currently rated at 30 percent, and the Board finds no evidence of clear and unmistakable error in assigning an effective date of June 19, 2002.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his low back, left knee, and right knee disabilities due to inadequate VA examinations. The AOJ is instructed to obtain private treatment records from Mays & Schnapp Pain Management and schedule the Veteran for additional medical examinations.
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