The Board found that the veteran's bilateral ankle disabilities were not caused or worsened by his service-connected left knee disorder and denied the claim for secondary service connection.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the July 1992 rappelling accident, which resulted in the veteran's injuries, was primarily due to an accidental fall while inebriated, rather than a service-connected left knee disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral ankle disabilities
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 15, 2004
- Citation
- 0409733
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 685 · Granted: 36% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0409733.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including right shoulder disability, abdominal hernia, GERD, bilateral ankle disabilities, and bilateral foot disabilities. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred or aggravated during the appellant's period of active duty.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's appeal for entitlement to TDIU and denied his claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, back strain, bilateral knee disabilities, and bilateral ankle disabilities. The claims of service connection for these conditions are remanded due to a duty-to-assist error.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's left shoulder disability, bilateral ankle disabilities, and bilateral knee disabilities due to new and relevant evidence submitted since the last denial. Service connection is also granted for gastritis (gastrointestinal condition) and cyst scrotum on the right side.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claims for service connection for a back disability and bilateral ankle disabilities as secondary to his already service-connected left knee disability and bilateral pes planus, based on the benefit of doubt rule.
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