The Board remands the claim for service connection of right knee disability, to include as secondary to PTSD and right ankle disabilities, with obesity as an intermediate step, for additional evidentiary development.
The deciding factor: The December 2022 VA examiner's opinion is insufficient because it does not consider the Veteran's lay statements about weight gain or the interplay of his medications and implications for obesity as an intermediate step.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome (right knee disability)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 19, 2025
- Citation
- A25044397
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 Board denied earlier effective dates for the awards of service connection for various disabilities, including PTSD with other specified depressive disorder and multiple wrist and finger pain conditions.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of October 17, 2017 for the award of service connection for left elbow limitation of flexion and left cubital tunnel syndrome (CTS), but denied earlier effective dates for other conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's lumbar spine, right knee, and left knee disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for heat stroke and increased the disability rating to 20 percent for both lower extremity radiculopathies, while denying a higher rating for cervical strain. The claims for higher ratings for knee disabilities were remanded.
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