The Veteran's appeal regarding the evaluation rating of his left total knee arthroplasty was dismissed due to a procedural defect in submitting both a Notice of Disagreement and a Supplemental Claim concurrently.
The deciding factor: The Board docketed an impermissible concurrent election as to the issue identified, which is considered a procedural defect under AMA regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- Left total knee arthroplasty
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 14, 2026
- Citation
- A26034105
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 A26034105.
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development, specifically to obtain relevant VA treatment records stored in VistA Imaging that are not currently associated with the claims file.
- Partly granted
The Board granted restoration of the 40 percent disability rating for the service-connected left total knee arthroplasty, which was improperly reduced to 30 percent disabling effective August 1, 2021. The Board denied a compensable rating for the service-connected scar status post left knee replacement.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU related to his bilateral knee disabilities are being remanded due to procedural issues. The AOJ must issue a Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC) and review the issues on appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that additional development is needed to ensure all relevant records are associated with the claims file and for a retrospective medical opinion regarding the Veteran's cervical spine disability. The appeal will be remanded for these purposes.
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