The Veteran's claims for increased disability ratings for his back and knee disabilities are remanded due to the need for clarification on whether he has had 'functional ankylosis' in either his back or left knee disabilities throughout the appeal period.
The deciding factor: The VA clinician provided conflicting opinions regarding functional ankylosis, which is a requirement of the Board's previous remand directive.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral spine, chronic back pain with arthritis and spondylosis, degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine with spondylolisthesis and intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS), degenerative joint disease (DJD) with loss of flexion of the left knee, degenerative joint disease (DJD) with loss of extension of the left knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 26, 2024
- Citation
- 24033502
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,188 · Granted: 23% (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 24033502.
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 Board remands the Veteran's claims for increased disability ratings for his low back and left knee disabilities to ensure compliance with previous remand instructions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claims for increased disability ratings for his back and left knee disabilities to ensure compliance with its previous remand instructions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for right knee strain, left knee strain, lumbosacral strain, and left hip strain due to duty-to-assist errors. The Veteran's claims are being remanded to obtain adequate medical opinions regarding whether his lumbar spine, bilateral knee, and left hip disabilities are caused or aggravated by his service-connected pes planus and bilateral ankle disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for a disability rating in excess of 20 percent for his service-connected lumbosacral spine, bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, and TDIU. The reasons include the need for updated examinations due to potential worsening of the conditions.
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