The Board remands the claims for increased disability ratings and effective dates, as well as a TDIU claim, due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors in the VA examinations.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary to correct inconsistencies in the examination reports and provide opinions that account for the Veteran's reported flare-ups and medication use.
- Claimed conditions
- Lumbar spine degenerative disc disease with intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS), Left knee limitation of extension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 6, 2025
- Citation
- A25041281
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 denied ratings in excess of the assigned percentages for the veteran's left knee and back disabilities, but granted a 20 percent rating for left knee limitation of flexion from August 4, 2014 to September 24, 2024, and a 30 percent rating for a back disability from August 16, 2019.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability from December 15, 2020 to April 26, 2022 due to service-connected major depressive disorder, degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, and left sciatic nerve radiculopathy.
- Partly granted
The reduction in the rating for left knee limitation of extension from 30 percent to 10 percent was not proper, and the 30 percent disability rating is restored. Entitlement to an increased disability rating of 30 percent for left knee instability, effective June 2, 2020, is granted.
- Granted
The Board granted increased ratings for the Veteran's left knee conditions, including a 30 percent rating for limitation of flexion, a separate 40 percent rating for limitation of extension from June 21, 2010, and a 30 percent rating for instability.
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