Knee decisions — 2009

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his right knee disabilities were denied as the evidence did not show that he met the criteria for a higher rating under the applicable diagnostic codes.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's left knee disability was aggravated by active military service and granted service connection for this condition. The right ear hearing loss is currently rated as noncompensable.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for left ear hearing loss and degenerative joint disease of the right knee, finding no increase in severity during active service.

The Veteran's appeal is denied as there are no legal provisions for retroactive reimbursement of costs incurred by enrolling in a masters program not approved by the IWRP under the provisions of Chapter 31.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a right knee disability, finding that it is related to his service-connected left knee and bilateral ankle disabilities.

The Board has remanded the case for further development due to incomplete service treatment records and outstanding medical records from various providers.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining all relevant VA treatment records from the St. Louis VA Medical Center.

The Board denied the Veteran's request for an effective date prior to October 2002 for the grant of service connection for a left knee disability. The claim for service connection for DM was denied in November 2001, and the right knee disability claim was denied by the August 2002 Board decision. Both claims were found without legal merit.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his right knee injury and asthmatic bronchitis were denied by the Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA). The BVA found that the evidence did not support a higher evaluation for either condition.

The Board found that the Veteran's neck and right knee injuries were not incurred in service, his hypertension was not related to service or a service-connected disability, and his headaches were not related to service.

The Veteran's left hip disability, including osteochondromatosis and chondrosarcoma, was caused by VA medical care. The Board granted compensation under the provisions of 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 for this disability.

The Veteran's left knee replacement, right and left hip disorders, and low back disorder are found to be related to service. The claims for these conditions have been reopened and granted.

The Board found no evidence of a current diagnosis of a bilateral knee condition or right ankle arthritis, and thus denied the Veteran's claims for service connection.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for higher ratings for his service-connected left knee and lumbar spine disabilities due to a lack of recent VA examinations, and requests that he provide authorization for VA to obtain private medical records from Dr. Andrade.

The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of chronic low back, left knee, or right knee disabilities. Therefore, service connection for these conditions is denied.

The Veteran's claims for increased evaluations of his left knee and low back conditions were denied. The RO found that the evidence did not support an evaluation in excess of 20 percent for residuals of left knee injury, post-operative with ACL instability, or a rating in excess of 10 percent for traumatic arthritis of the left knee.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for PTSD, bilateral hearing loss disability, left shoulder disability, right knee disability, and hypertension as there was no credible supporting evidence of a stressor and the Veteran did not engage in combat. The Veteran also had normal hearing during service.

The Veteran's claims for nerve and muscle damage due to surgery, right groin (to include right pelvic/hip damage causing the right side to be shorter than the left), root canal problems (to include gum disease with loss of teeth), fibromyalgia (to include body wide sickness and nausea secondary to dental work and extreme fatigue), depression, insomnia, neck problems (claimed as neck problems with bone spurring), back problems (claimed as scoliosis in the spine), chronic ear problems (claimed as hole punctured and eardrum), anemia, vision problems (to include an eye condition), hearing loss, impairment of the right knee, right foot condition, head condition, carpal tunnel syndrome, right (also claimed as paralysis of medial nerve), left knee condition, and left foot condition have all been denied due to lack of new and material evidence.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine if he has any additional disability as a result of the total knee replacement and subsequent surgeries. The examiner will also need to address whether the additional disability was caused by carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment or similar instance of fault on the part of VA.

The Board found that the appellant does not have qualifying service for VA non-service-connected pension benefits and denied his claims for service connection for arthritis of both knees, arthritis of both ankles, and bilateral hearing loss.