The veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings have been denied. The Board found no evidence of a current disability related to his in-service parachute accident, and the VA examinations did not support any current knee or lumbar spine disorders.
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence linking the veteran's current knee or lumbar spine conditions to service or a period of one year following active service. The Board found that the lack of in-service treatment for knee problems makes it unlikely that any current knee disability is associated with his in-service accident.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical strain, Degenerative joint disease of the left knee, Left lumbar radiculopathy, Residuals of compression fracture of L3-L4, Right knee disorder, Right lumbar radiculopathy, Tension headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- November 7, 2006
- Citation
- 0634403
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 141 · Granted: 20% (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 0634403.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for cervical strain, service connection for left leg pain (claimed as joint pain), and service connection for a left ear hearing condition are being remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
- Granted
The Veteran's initial evaluation for tension headaches to include migraines is granted, with a rating of 50 percent effective from May 23, 2023.
- Granted
The Veteran's right and left knee braces caused wear and tear to his clothing in the year of 2021, leading to a decision granting annual clothing allowances for both knee braces.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a compensable disability rating for tension and migraine headaches is remanded due to the inadequacy of the September 2020 VA examination report, which did not consider the ameliorative effects of medication.
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