The Board denied service connection for bilateral hip and knee disabilities as secondary to the veteran's service-connected lumbar spine arthritis due to a lack of competent medical evidence linking these conditions to his service or to his service-connected disability.
The deciding factor: There is no competent medical evidence showing that the veteran's arthritis of the hips or knees began during service, is related to any incident of service, was manifest within one year of active service, or is due to or chronically worsened by service-connected arthritis of the lumbar spine.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hip disability, Bilateral knee disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2009
- Citation
- 0902523
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.
- Denied
The veteran's bad conduct discharge precludes eligibility for VA benefits, including compensation and healthcare.
- Dismissed
The appeals for service connection and TDIU were dismissed due to the Veteran's death during the pendency of the appeal.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a bilateral hip disability, right hand sprain, back DJD, neck DJD, bilateral knee DJD, bilateral foot pain, DM II, and OSA as the evidence did not support a finding of a current disability or a nexus to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands several issues for further development, including service connection claims and an earlier effective date claim.
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