The Board remands the issues of entitlement to a rating higher than 10 percent for right knee chondromalacia and service connection for familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: Remand is required to obtain an adequate VA examination to correct the pre-decisional duty to assist error regarding the Veteran's right knee disability and FAP, as the previous examinations did not adequately address the effects of medication on the severity of the right knee disability and failed to address evidence contradicting the examiner's findings for FAP.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee chondromalacia, familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 11, 2025
- Citation
- A25022512
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 veteran withdrew his appeal for higher ratings of his left and right knee conditions, and the Board has no jurisdiction to review these issues.
- Dismissed
The proposed reductions of the veteran's right and left knee chondromalacia ratings were dismissed as there was no final rating action taken, and the disabilities remained rated at 40 percent during the applicable period.
- Partly granted
The appeal for service connection for sleep disorder is dismissed, and the Veteran's claims for service connection for alcohol use disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, somatic symptom disorder, bilateral hearing loss, and lower back strain are denied. The Board granted a 70 percent rating for PTSD.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for increased ratings and service connection, finding no persuasive evidence that the criteria for increased evaluations were met prior to the respective claim or examination dates.
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