The Veteran's service-connected bilateral knee disabilities do not meet the criteria for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) as his combined rating is less than 70 percent and he is not unemployable due solely to these service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has two service-connected disabilities, each rated at 20 percent, resulting in a combined rating of 40 percent. The criteria for TDIU are met when the combined rating is less than 70 percent and there is sufficient additional service-connected disability to bring the combined rating to 70 percent or more.
- Claimed conditions
- chondromalacia patella with painful plica band syndrome, right knee, chondromalacia patella with painful plica band syndrome, left knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- September 17, 2010
- Citation
- 1035231
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 1035231.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected knee disabilities do not preclude him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
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