The Board remands the claim for an increased rating in excess of 30 percent for right total knee replacement to correct a pre-decisional error, as the AOJ failed to obtain an adequate medical examination.
The deciding factor: The May 2022 and March 2023 VA examinations were found inadequate due to inconsistencies with the Veteran's reported symptoms and failure to properly assess flare-ups and additional functional loss during flare-ups or repetitive use over time, which are required for accurate evaluation under applicable regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- right total knee replacement
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 5, 2025
- Citation
- A25010270
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 857 · Granted: 35% (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 A25010270.
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 Veteran is unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment due to service-connected disabilities, and a TDIU is granted.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claimed conditions, including prostate cancer, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, type II, diabetic nephropathy and end stage renal disease with dialysis, diabetic peripheral neuropathies of various extremities, erectile dysfunction, lumbar spine strain with degenerative arthritis and intervertebral disc syndrome, and bilateral knee replacements, do not meet the criteria for service connection based on direct evidence or presumptive exposure to herbicide agents. The Board also found that there was no qualifying exposure to toxic environmental exposures during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims of service connection for bilateral total knee replacements due to insufficient evidence regarding their onset and relation to active service.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's legacy appeals regarding increased ratings for his service-connected bilateral knee and scar issues due to a mistake in classification of the appeal as a legacy appeal instead of an AMA review system.
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