The Board denied service connection for a bilateral knee disability, bilateral foot disability, and bilateral elbow disability as the evidence did not support that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by active military service.
The deciding factor: The veteran's degenerative joint disease of the knees was not shown to have developed during service, nor within one year after discharge. The other claimed disabilities were also not shown to be related to service and were attributed to known clinical diagnoses rather than undiagnosed illnesses.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease (DJD) of the knees, Joint pain in the feet, Joint pain in the elbows
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 6, 2009
- Citation
- 0904458
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
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