The Board remands the Veteran's claims for higher initial ratings for bilateral knee patellofemoral pain syndrome due to an inadequate VA examination and the need for a new examination that accounts for the ameliorative effects of medication.
The deciding factor: The December 2017 examination was found to be inadequate as it did not estimate the degree of additional range-of-motion loss after flare-ups or repeated use over time, which is necessary for accurate rating purposes. Additionally, the Board finds that a new examination is warranted due to the passage of nearly six years since the last VA knee examination.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome with limited flexion, left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome with limited flexion, right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome with limited extension, left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome with limited extension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 16, 2025
- Citation
- 25014933
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 882 · 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 25014933.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board restored the 20 percent disability rating for lumbosacral strain and remanded higher rating claims for bilateral knee conditions.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed all pending claims due to the appellant's withdrawal of his appeals for increased disability ratings in multiple service-connected conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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