The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for various lower extremity and back disabilities, including lumbar spine, cervical spine, left hip, right hip, and left knee conditions. The reasons include inadequate prior examinations that did not adequately discuss the relationship between the Veteran's service-connected right knee disability and his claimed conditions.
The deciding factor: The Board found the prior VA examination opinions to be insufficient as they did not provide a detailed discussion of the evidence or render a medical opinion in light of the Veteran's competent lay testimony regarding his altered gait, pain, and other symptoms.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine, cervical spine, left hip, right hip, left knee
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 17, 2024
- Citation
- 24002381
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 772 · Granted: 31% (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 24002381.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's TDIU was granted effective April 8, 2020. The Board found that VA failed to properly notify the Veteran of his intent to file a claim and thus the earlier date is valid.
- Denied
The Veteran's service connection claims for left ankle, right ankle, right hand, and left hand conditions are denied.,The Veteran's service connection claim for right hip condition is denied.,The Veteran's service connection claim for left hip condition is denied.,The Veteran's service connection claim for left wrist condition is denied.,The Veteran's service connection claim for right wrist condition is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection regarding his left knee, right knee condition, and coronary artery disease require further examination and medical opinion due to a lack of a VA examination in connection with these claims.
- Granted
The Veteran's left ankle disability is granted service connection, and he receives a 10% rating for his right and left knee disabilities based on limitation of motion. Separate 20% ratings are assigned for instability in both knees.
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