The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for arthritis of multiple joints due to new evidence submitted by the veteran, including a March 2003 medical opinion from a private orthopedic surgeon. The Board found that this evidence was material and considered in conjunction with other evidence to decide the merits of the claim.
The deciding factor: The new evidence provided by the veteran's private orthopedic surgeon supported his contention that arthritis is related to service, specifically due to carrying heavy loads during active duty in Vietnam. However, the Board found this opinion less probative because it did not address the veteran's post-service employment history and was inconsistent with his MOS as an armor crewman.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of multiple joints
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 27, 2006
- Citation
- 0630400
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,319 · Granted: 25% (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 0630400.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal for service connection of arthritis of multiple joints due to the appellant's withdrawal.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II and arthritis of multiple joints, finding that there was no evidence to support a link between these conditions and his active service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims for service connection have been dismissed due to his death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for arthritis of multiple joints, including as secondary to his service-connected multilevel degenerative disc disease with degenerative joint disease of the spine and degenerative spurring of the lower extremities (knees). The case is being returned for additional development.
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