The Board denied a compensable rating for the veteran's service-connected rheumatoid arthritis of both knees and lumbar spine, finding no evidence of active rheumatoid arthritis or chronic residuals.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence of active rheumatoid arthritis in the joints involved. The VA examiner noted that current degenerative joint disease was more likely than not secondary to aging.
- Claimed conditions
- rheumatoid arthritis of both knees, rheumatoid arthritis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 19, 2003
- Citation
- 0305134
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 685 · Granted: 36% (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 0305134.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Partly granted
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- Denied
The Veteran's claims for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 were denied as the evidence does not show that his additional disability was due to VA carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment or other instance of fault.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for tinea pedis. The Veteran's claims for a lumbar spine disorder, radiculopathy of the bilateral lower extremities, and migraines are remanded due to incomplete development.
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