The Board determined that the veteran's death was not service-connected and that he did not have a totally disabling service-connected disability or a total disability rating based on unemployability for a continuous period of at least ten years immediately preceding his death.
The deciding factor: The VA physician concluded that it was less likely than not that the service-connected knee disabilities materially or substantially caused the veteran's death, and there was no competent evidence linking the fatal cancer to an injury, disease, or event of service origin.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis with total knee replacement of the left knee, Right knee disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 2, 2009
- Citation
- 0900152
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic headaches, CFS, dermatosis, bilateral RLS, a lumbar spine disability, and sleep apnea but denied a compensable evaluation for allergic rhinitis.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the claims for an initial compensable rating for left ear sensorineural hearing loss, service connection for a right ear hearing loss disability, and a left eye disorder. However, it granted service connection for a back disability and radiculopathy of both lower extremities as secondary to the back disability.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for various disabilities and granted earlier effective dates for service connection of scars, but denied an earlier effective date for individual unemployability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claims for service connection for left and right knee disabilities to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
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