The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates and increased ratings are being remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding his service-connected bilateral knee disability.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations provided were inadequate, particularly in terms of assessing functional loss due to flareups and repeated use over time. Additional retrospective evaluations are necessary to provide a complete picture of the Veteran's current condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative spondylolisthesis of the lumbar spine, Bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, Right knee painful scar right, Right knee residual scar, Right lower extremity retropatellar arthritis and limited painful range of motion, Left knee limitation of extension, Left knee instability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 26, 2024
- Citation
- 24012700
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 24012700.
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 Board has granted effective dates of June 17, 2010 for service connection and separate ratings for right knee instability and left knee instability.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew their appeal regarding the increased disability evaluation and earlier effective date for left knee limitation of extension.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy on the basis of CUE in the February 1996 rating decision have been denied. The May 2022 rating decision is also dismissed as it failed to grant service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection are not properly before it due to procedural errors and remanded for further development, including obtaining VA treatment records and scheduling a VA examination.
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