The veteran's right knee disability is rated at 40 percent, and service connection for his low back disorder due to aggravation of a pre-existing condition by the service-connected knee disorder is granted.
The deciding factor: VA examination reports and medical opinions indicate that the veteran's current low back disorder is aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee disorders, warranting secondary service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- Internal derangement with degenerative joint disease of the right knee, Degenerative arthritis of the lumbosacral spine
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- September 29, 2006
- Citation
- 0630671
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,038 · Granted: 30% (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 0630671.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded two issues: entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 20 percent prior to March 23, 2009 for degenerative arthritis of the lumbosacral spine and entitlement to an extraschedular disability rating for the same condition. The Veteran is asked to provide lay statements from individuals who have observed his symptoms during flare-ups and without medication. A retrospective medical opinion is needed to assess the severity of his condition prior to March 23, 2009.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities cause the need for regular aid and attendance of another person, which is granted based on the evidence provided.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the inadequacy of the October 2019 VA examination reports.,The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the inadequacy of the October 2019 VA examination reports.,The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the inadequacy of the September 2019 VA medical opinions.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for a psychiatric disorder is being remanded based on new military personnel records showing his deployment to Panama and Honduras.,The Veteran's claims for service connection are being remanded due to inadequate VA examination reports related to ankle disabilities.,The Veteran's claims for service connection are being remanded due to inadequate VA examination reports related to ankle disabilities.,The Veteran's claim for service connection is being remanded due to inadequate VA examination report.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial rating of 40 percent for degenerative arthritis of the lumbosacral spine, but denied higher ratings for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy.
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