The Board has determined that the Veteran's low back disability and arthritis are not service-connected, as there is no evidence of a current disability related to service or secondary to a service-connected condition. The Board also found no evidence of left or right leg radiculopathy.
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence showing a current low back disability or arthritis that is related to service or secondary to a service-connected condition, and the Veteran's claimed disabilities are not supported by competent medical evidence.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Knee Chondromalacia, Low Back Strain and Myositis, Arthritis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 12, 2011
- Citation
- 1133836
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 1133836.
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 Veteran's right knee instability rating is restored to 20 percent effective November 1, 2019. The initial disability rating for right knee instability remains denied and the increased disability rating for right knee chondromalacia is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error in previous examinations, requiring additional information on right shoulder ROM measurements without medication effects.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his right and left knee conditions have been denied. The current evaluations for the right knee under DC 5260 are 10 percent, while those for the left knee under DCs 5260 and 5261 are noncompensable.
- Granted
The Veteran's disability ratings for low back disability and right lower extremity radiculopathy have been reduced from 40% and 10%, respectively, to 20% and 0%. The reduction was based on improvements shown in recent VA examinations.
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