The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the interphalangeal joints, knees, and ankles secondary to his service-connected rheumatoid arthritis and an initial compensable evaluation for rheumatoid arthritis. The Board found that there was no evidence of a direct relationship between the veteran's service-connected rheumatoid arthritis and his current osteoarthritis.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner stated that the veteran did not manifest any symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, and he knew of no specific study in the medical literature showing a known correlation between increased development of degenerative osteoarthritis in a patient with prior rheumatoid arthritis.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative arthritis of the interphalangeal joints, degenerative arthritis of the knees, degenerative arthritis of the ankles
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 22, 2003
- Citation
- 0301244
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 499 · Granted: 18% (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 0301244.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Board denied the veteran's appeal for timely filing of a Board Appeal request and dismissed the attempted appeals.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to the need for additional medical records and opinions regarding the etiology of his ankle, knee, and leg disorders.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims due to incomplete actions and requests for a supplemental statement of the case.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for various conditions, including cervical spine disorder, kidney stone, degenerative arthritis of the knees, and sleep disturbances. The AOJ is instructed to ensure all relevant records are translated and obtain appropriate medical opinions regarding the relationship between these conditions and active service.
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