The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for a left knee disorder, diagnosed as degenerative joint disease (DJD), finding that there was no evidence of chronic left knee pathology in service or within many years thereafter and that the current condition was not related to his active duty service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that the metal fragment from the veteran's 1965 injury had little impact on the development of DJD, attributing it more likely to the veteran's weight, which exceeded 350 pounds. The Board found this opinion more probative than the private physician's opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative joint disease (DJD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 6, 2009
- Citation
- 0904402
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,162 · Granted: 21% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0904402.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for initial ratings of her left shoulder strain and cervical spine disability due to new evidence or further clarification from the AOJ.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for right shoulder disability, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active service.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Veteran was granted an initial disability rating of 40 percent for lumbosacral strain, DJD, from December 17, 1997 to June 3, 2022, and the effective date for service connection for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy was also set at December 17, 1997. However, a higher rating or TDIU was denied.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The claim for service connection for a left knee condition (to include patellofemoral syndrome and DJD) is remanded for readjudication, as new and relevant evidence has been received sufficient to reopen the claim.
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