The veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection were denied. The left knee condition is rated as 10 percent disabling, while the lumbar spine disability is rated as 20 percent disabling under old criteria (now reclassified to 5243). Right knee disability was not found to be related to active duty service.
The deciding factor: The veteran's right knee disability was not shown during service and no evidence of a nexus between the current condition and service or any service-connected conditions was provided. The left knee degenerative changes were rated based on limitation of motion, but did not meet criteria for higher ratings under Diagnostic Codes 5260/5261.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Disc Disease of Lumbar Spine (L3-5), Left Knee Degenerative Changes
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 16, 2006
- Citation
- 0604469
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,500 · Granted: 17% (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 0604469.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's left knee instability is granted a rating of 30 percent effective July 15, 2014. The Veteran's left knee degenerative changes are granted a rating of 30 percent effective July 15, 2014.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for right knee collateral damage, status post knee replacement is granted as secondary to his service-connected left knee disability. His acquired psychiatric disability, including PTSD with insomnia and paranoid thoughts, is also granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for higher ratings for his right and left shoulder bursitis, as well as his right and left knee degenerative changes and instability are being remanded due to the need for additional examinations to assess range of motion in both active and passive motions.
- Denied
The Veteran's left knee disability, including degenerative changes and instability, is rated at 10% prior to April 1, 2012. The appeal for increased ratings was denied.
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