The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for arthritis of multiple joints and an increased rating for his respiratory disorder. The evidence does not support a finding that these conditions were incurred during military service or within one year thereafter.
The deciding factor: There is no competent medical evidence linking the current disabilities to military service, including osteoarthritis of the hips and knees which pre-dates service by many years and was diagnosed long after separation. The respiratory disability also does not meet the criteria for an increased rating as it only results in a FEV-1 of at least 46 percent of predicted value.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis of multiple joints, Respiratory defect with paresis of the left diaphragm and residuals of phrenic nerve damage
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- November 13, 2006
- Citation
- 0635175
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,440 · 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 0635175.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for arthritis of multiple joints, esophageal cancer, liver cancer, stomach cancer, and urethral cancer due to a lack of evidence linking these conditions to the Veteran's service or exposure at Camp Lejeune.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for left ear hearing loss, arthritis of multiple joints, right knee disorder, and left knee disorder have been granted. The remaining issues are denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence and need for further examination. The issues include PTSD, depressive disorder, ALS, a blood problem presumed from herbicide exposure, and arthritis of multiple joints.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for arthritis was granted, with a 20 percent rating effective September 12, 2006.,Her claim for increased ratings for her service-connected lumbar strain and fibromyalgia was partially granted. The lumbar strain received an initial increase to 20 percent from July 22, 2013 onwards, while the fibromyalgia remained at a maximum of 40 percent.,The Veteran's claim for TDIU prior to October 11, 2013 was denied. The effective dates for service connection were also denied for both conditions.
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