The Veteran's claims for higher initial ratings for his back and right knee disabilities are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including obtaining an addendum opinion on functional loss during flare-ups and a VA examination to determine the current severity of his service-connected right knee disability.
The deciding factor: Additional evidence is needed to fully assess the Veteran's conditions and their impact on his ability to function.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease (DDD) with low back strain, Status post right knee medial meniscal repair with patellofemoral syndrome and degenerative arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 20, 2023
- Citation
- 23067090
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 23067090.
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 Board denied the Veteran's claims for higher initial ratings for his back and right knee disabilities, finding that the evidence did not support a rating higher than 40 percent for lumbar DDD or higher than 20 percent thereafter for right knee disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for higher initial ratings for his back and right knee disabilities due to issues with functional loss during flare-ups and neurological manifestations, as well as inadequate range of motion measurements in a recent VA examination.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings for his hernia condition, right wrist sprain, and DDD with low back strain have been denied. The Board found no current disability related to the hernia surgery or testicular pain, and did not find ankylosis in the DDD with low back strain case.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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