Knee decisions — 2009

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hip and knee disabilities as secondary to the veteran's service-connected lumbar spine arthritis due to a lack of competent medical evidence linking these conditions to his service or to his service-connected disability.

The Board denied an increased rating for the veteran's left knee patellofemoral syndrome, finding that the current 10 percent evaluation accurately reflected the severity of his disability.

The appeal is remanded to the RO for further development of evidence and readjudication.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for residuals of a left ankle injury, numbness and tingling in the lower extremities and fingers, shrapnel embedded in the right knee, and right ankle and bilateral foot disabilities.

The Board denied service connection for all conditions except an initial rating of 20 percent for arthritis of the left ankle.

The veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hip, knee, and foot conditions were denied. However, the claims for residuals of a scalp laceration and hernia repair were granted.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his right and left knee disabilities, as the evidence did not support a higher disability rating under the applicable criteria.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for DJD of the right knee and DDD of the lumbosacral spine, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating under the applicable criteria.

The veteran's current left knee disorder was not incurred in or aggravated by his active military service, and the Board denied service connection for a left knee disorder.

The Board granted service connection for right elbow epicondylitis and left knee chondrocalcinosis with lateral joint compartment narrowing, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the veteran.

The veteran's right and left knee disabilities were granted a rating of 20 percent effective from December 5, 2007.

The appeal is remanded to the RO for additional development of the evidence.

The evidence submitted was not new and material, as it did not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim for service connection for a left knee disorder.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for a right knee disability, as there was no evidence linking it to his in-service shrapnel wounds or any other incident of service.

The veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 30 percent for post-operative residuals of internal derangement of the right knee from December 2004 to February 2006 and for total right knee replacement from April 2007 to the present was denied.

The Board denied service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities, bilateral knee disabilities, bilateral hip/leg disabilities, bilateral ankle disabilities, and weight gain as secondary to pes planus with osteoarthritis of the feet.

The Board remands the claims for a VA examination to determine if the veteran's current left knee and cervical spine disabilities are related to his service.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral knee sprain, left ankle sprain, and low back disability as they were not incurred in or aggravated by the veteran's active duty service, nor are they proximately due to or the result of his service-connected right ankle.

The veteran's right knee disability, congenital dysplasia and arthritis of the right hip, and congenital dysplasia and arthritis of the left hip were denied service connection.

The veteran's claims for increased ratings were denied as the evidence did not support a compensable evaluation for any of the conditions.