The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased disability ratings and service connection, as there was no evidence of a back disability or hearing loss that was related to his military service.
The deciding factor: There is no competent medical evidence linking the veteran's back disability or hearing loss to his military service or any service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- recurrent right ankle instability, degenerative joint disease of the left knee, residuals of a soft tissue injury of the right midfoot, left knee instability, back disability (secondary to service-connected disability), hearing loss disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 26, 2008
- Citation
- 0810032
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
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 for bilateral knee instability and denied service connection for right and left knee instability, finding no nexus between the Veteran's knee conditions and his service or service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issues of entitlement to increased ratings for a thoracolumbar spine disorder and bilateral knee disorders due to the need for additional VA examinations.
- Denied
The Board denied restoration of the 30 percent ratings for left knee arthritis (flexion), left knee strain arthritis (extension), and left knee instability, as well as a 20 percent rating for left ankle chronic sprain. The Veteran's claims for increased ratings were also denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right knee gout and a rating of 50 percent for the Veteran's right wrist condition, while remanding several other issues related to his knees and instability.
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