The Board has remanded the case due to the need for a medical opinion regarding whether the proximate cause of the Veteran's left knee disability post-arthroplasty was carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or similar instance of fault on VA's part.
The deciding factor: The Board found that additional disabilities such as significant bone loss, osteolysis, and osteomyelitis following the July 2007 left knee total arthroplasty may have been caused by carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or similar instance of fault on VA's part.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee osteomyelitis, significant bone loss, osteolysis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2024
- Citation
- 24000286
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 575 · Granted: 29% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 24000286.
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 Veteran's left knee disabilities, including internal derangement, instability, limitation of extension, and osteomyelitis, have worsened since the last VA examinations. The Board has ordered a new examination to assess the current severity of these conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's appeal to reopen service connection for a left knee disability is granted. The Board also remanded the issue of service connection for degenerative joint disease of the left knee, status post knee replacement.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for diabetes mellitus with mild diabetic retinopathy and erectile dysfunction was denied as his condition did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under Diagnostic Code 7913.
- 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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