The Board denied the veteran's claims for an increased rating for pes planus and service connection for osteoarthritis of his hips, finding that there was no persuasive medical evidence linking the hip arthritis to his service-connected pes planus.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that the veteran's flat feet did not cause or aggravate his hip arthritis.
- Claimed conditions
- Pes Planus (Flat Feet), Osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- January 20, 2004
- Citation
- 0401937
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,669 · Granted: 23% (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 0401937.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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The Veteran's right knee strain with osteoarthritis is currently rated at 10 percent, and the Board has determined that a higher rating is not warranted based on current evidence.
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- Granted
The Veteran's right knee disability, including post-total knee arthroplasty, is rated at 30% effective December 1, 2018. The TDIU claim was granted from January 1, 2018.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a right knee disability as secondary to his service-connected lumbar strain and right lower extremity radiculopathy.
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