The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his knee disorders and service connection for chemical dependency have been denied. The Board found no evidence of ankylosis, severe subluxation or lateral instability, flexion limited to 15 degrees, extension limited to at least 20 degrees, or malunion of the tibia and fibula in either knee. For his chemical dependency claim, the Veteran's service connection theory was not supported as there is no indication that direct service connection can be established due to lack of evidence linking the disorder to active service.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence did not support a finding of ankylosis or severe subluxation/lateral instability in either knee. The Veteran's chemical dependency claim could not be granted as there was no indication that direct service connection can be established due to lack of evidence linking the disorder to active service.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Knee Disorder, Right Knee Disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 3, 2009
- Citation
- 0933266
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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0933266.
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.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's right knee disorder is related to his military service and grants entitlement to service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection for a right knee disorder and an initial compensable rating for TBI, as new evidence was received. The effective date for service connection for TBI is being remanded.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's right knee disorder is related to his service, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for right and left hip disorders due to a pre-decisional error in obtaining an adequate nexus opinion prior to the June 2021 rating decision.
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