The Board remands the issue of service connection for left knee joint osteoarthritis to obtain a new examination opinion addressing whether it was aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected right knee disabilities.
The deciding factor: The August 2023 examination opinion was found inadequate as it did not address the specifics of the Veteran's case regarding potential aggravation of his left knee arthritis by his right knee disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee joint osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2025
- Citation
- 25000977
Veterans Law Judge
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 25000977.
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 Veteran's TDIU claim is being remanded due to the need for additional evidence, including SSA disability records. The AOJ will consider the recent grants of service connection in conjunction with the TDIU application.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for lumbar spine degenerative arthritis and DDD, right knee joint osteoarthritis, left knee joint osteoarthritis, chest disability manifested by pain, left leg disability manifested by pain, right ankle disability manifested by pain, sleep apnea, and right ear hearing loss. The claim for left ear hearing loss is denied as the Veteran does not meet the regulatory threshold for a current hearing loss disability.
- Granted
The Board has granted earlier effective dates of June 24, 2016 for the award of service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, left lower peripheral vein insufficiency (CVI) and varicose veins, right lower peripheral vein insufficiency (CVI) and varicose veins, left knee joint osteoarthritis, and right knee joint osteoarthritis.,The effective dates are based on the Veteran's formal appeal of the July 2019 Statement of the Case and December 2016 rating decision.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates and increased ratings have been denied.,The Veteran was granted a TDIU based on his service-connected disabilities.
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