The Board has remanded the claims for increased evaluations of right and left knee sprain prior to September 14, 2015 due to an inadequate May 2013 VA examination report. The examiner did not provide a retrospective opinion on the functional limitation of the Veteran's knees during flare-ups.
The deciding factor: The May 2013 VA examination report was found to be inadequate for rating purposes as it did not address the impact of flare-ups on the Veteran's knee function in terms of lost range of motion.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Knee Sprain, Left Knee Sprain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 23, 2023
- Citation
- 23046704
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 23046704.
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 increased ratings for right knee disability was denied. The Board found that the June 2013 rating decision did not contain CUE in failing to assign separate evaluations for instability and swelling.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including obtaining medical records and scheduling new VA examinations.
- Granted
The Veteran's left knee sprain with instability is granted a 30 percent rating, effective from December 17, 2007, to the present. From February 24, 2015, entitlement for left knee osteoarthritis is granted a separate 20 percent rating.
- Granted
The Veteran's right knee sprain and instability have been granted separate evaluations, with the sprain receiving a 10% evaluation effective June 19, 2014, and the instability receiving a 10% evaluation effective March 16, 2015. The earlier effective date for service connection of right knee instability is set at March 16, 2015.
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