The Board remands the claims for a rating in excess of 30 percent for right and left knee total arthroplasty to obtain additional medical evidence regarding the severity of the Veteran's knee disabilities without considering the ameliorative effects of pain medication.
The deciding factor: A remand is necessary due to an incomplete VA examination that did not consider the ameliorative effects of the Veteran's medication on his knee disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee total arthroplasty, left knee total arthroplasty
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 6, 2025
- Citation
- A25096652
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 882 · Granted: 22% (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 A25096652.
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 Veteran's left knee total arthroplasty resulted in intermediate degrees of residual weakness, pain, or limitation. The Board found that a higher rating is not warranted as there was no evidence of severe painful motion or weakness.
- Denied
The Board denied increased disability ratings for various conditions, including bilateral knee replacements and radiculopathies. The reduction of the 30 percent rating for cervical spine degenerative arthritis was also denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claim for a rating in excess of 30 percent for residuals of right knee total arthroplasty due to an error in the VA examination, and the Veteran must be afforded another VA examination that fully complies with Correia v. McDonald.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted an additional month of a total disability rating for his right knee, concluding on November 1, 2024.
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