The Board remands the issues of increased ratings for right knee and left knee disabilities, as well as a rating for PTSD and major depressive disorder, due to insufficient evidence.
The deciding factor: Further VA examinations are necessary to determine the current severity of the service-connected conditions and to assess the levels of occupational and social impairment caused by the psychiatric disability prior to November 26, 2018.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee traumatic arthritis, right knee traumatic arthritis with limitation of extension, left knee traumatic arthritis, medial meniscus tear residuals, and arthroscopy residuals, left knee total replacement residuals, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 24, 2025
- Citation
- 25003973
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 918 · Granted: 32% (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 25003973.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased disability evaluations and service connection were denied, with the effective date being fixed in accordance with the facts found.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the VA examinations provided in this remand do not comply with the requirements set forth in previous remands. The Veteran's right knee conditions, including traumatic arthritis and instability, as well as his status post total right knee replacement, are being remanded for further evaluation.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral knee disabilities are rated at a 10 percent rating, effective June 25, 2002. The claim for increased ratings was denied.
- Denied
The Board denied an effective date prior to April 9, 1996, for the award of a TDIU on an extraschedular basis due to insufficient evidence showing that the Veteran's service-connected right knee disability alone precluded him from securing and following any substantially gainful employment.
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