The Veteran's initial ratings for bilateral knee conditions have been reinstated, but his claims seeking increased ratings are being remanded due to procedural issues and the need for additional development.
The deciding factor: The AOJ failed to address regulatory requirements when reducing the Veteran's disability ratings. The cases must be remanded as they involve a reduction in rating that was not properly supported by evidence of improvement or functional impairment.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Arthritis of the Left Knee, Degenerative Arthritis of the Right Knee, Pre-Patellar Bursitis of the Left Knee (Left Knee Bursitis), Pre-Patellar Bursitis of the Right Knee (Right Knee Bursitis)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 31, 2024
- Citation
- 24004969
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,820 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 24004969.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection and initial disability ratings for obstructive sleep apnea, degenerative arthritis of the left knee, and degenerative arthritis of the right knee to correct duty to assist errors.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's intervertebral disc syndrome, bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, and bilateral knee degenerative arthritis, as well as left ankle strain.
- Denied
The Board denied the claims for service connection and an initial compensable evaluation, finding that the evidence did not support a diagnosis of bilateral hearing loss disability or sleep apnea related to service. The Veteran's hemorrhoids were found to be noncompensable.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found the records incomplete and remanded for several reasons, including obtaining updated private treatment records from the Veteran's ENT provider and VA treatment records. Additionally, a new examination is required to assess the severity of the Veteran's left knee disability due to inadequate previous examination.
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