The Veteran's claims for effective dates and increased ratings for his bilateral knee disabilities are remanded due to a duty-to-assist error in the January 2022 VA examination.
The deciding factor: A recent VA examination did not include stability testing, which is necessary to fully assess the severity of the Veteran's bilateral knee disability.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral knee osteoarthritis, patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS), bursitis, bilateral knee instability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 10, 2024
- Citation
- A24081966
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 A24081966.
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.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal for service connection for bilateral knee instability and denied service connection for right and left knee instability, finding no nexus between the Veteran's knee conditions and his service or service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for bilateral shoulder strain, bilateral knee osteoarthritis, and bilateral foot degenerative arthritis and heel spur to obtain additional medical opinions.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's service connection for migraine headaches was granted as secondary to his service-connected disabilities, while other conditions were denied.
- Dismissed
The appeal for increased evaluations of the Veteran's right knee disabilities and service connection for a right shoulder condition was dismissed due to an impermissible concurrent election in the review process.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.