The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected chondromalacia patella of the left knee, finding that the evidence did not meet the criteria for a rating in excess of 30 percent from November 12, 1997 to December 7, 1997; denied entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent since February 1, 1998; and denied entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent prior to November 12, 1997.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not show that the veteran's left knee disability warranted a higher evaluation at any time during the appeal period.
- Claimed conditions
- Chondromalacia patella of the left knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 17, 2003
- Citation
- 0304929
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,642 · Granted: 19% (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 0304929.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for a new VA examination to determine the current nature and severity of the Veteran's bilateral knee disabilities, as well as the issue of entitlement to special monthly compensation based on loss of use of the lower extremities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that additional development is needed for the Veteran's claims of higher ratings for his cervical spine and knee disabilities, as VA examinations were not conducted as requested in a previous remand. The case is being returned to the RO for these purposes.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based upon individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) as he failed to cooperate with VA's efforts in obtaining information and evidence needed to substantiate his TDIU claim.
- Granted
The Veteran's left knee disability, specifically chondromalacia patella, was rated at 40 percent prior to March 1, 2018 and reduced to 20 percent effective March 1, 2018. The reduction from 40 percent to 20 percent is granted as the evidence showed improvement in range of motion.
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