The Board remands the claims for service connection for right and left knee strains with degenerative arthritis due to an error by the AOJ in failing to provide notice of the Veteran's right to a pre-decisional hearing.
The deciding factor: Remand is required because the AOJ failed to satisfy its duty to assist the Veteran under 38 U.S.C. § 5103A by not providing her with notice of her right to a pre-decisional hearing before issuing the October 2020 rating decision.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee strain with degenerative arthritis, left knee strain with degenerative arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 6, 2025
- Citation
- A25050237
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 the veteran's claims for earlier effective dates and higher ratings, finding that the evidence did not support an earlier date of entitlement or a higher rating based on the current medical findings.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a right knee disability, finding that the Veteran's current condition is directly related to his active military service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial rating of 10 percent for right and left knee strain with degenerative arthritis, but remanded the claims for separate ratings based on instability and/or locking.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection and increased ratings due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
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