The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for higher initial ratings for his service-connected knee, cervical spine, and foot disabilities. The RO granted service connection for these conditions in April 2001 but did not assign any effective date as of that time.
The deciding factor: The VA compensation examinations conducted in March 2009 provided the necessary findings to determine that the Veteran's disabilities do not warrant higher initial ratings under applicable rating criteria.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) of the right knee, status post meniscectomy, Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) of the left knee, status post repair, with instability, Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) of the cervical spine with an ununited chip fracture at T1 and left wrist pain, Laceration and cellulitis of the left hypothenar area, Right bunionectomy, Left bunionectomy, DuVries-Mann claw toe operation of the left second toe
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- May 8, 2012
- Citation
- 1216538
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 1216538.
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: Denied
The Veteran's claim for a TDIU prior to June 15, 2017 was denied as the combined rating of his service-connected conditions did not meet the criteria for an extraschedular TDIU under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(b).
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for higher initial ratings for his bilateral knee and cervical spine disorders, laceration and cellulitis of the left hypothenar area, right bunionectomy, left bunionectomy, DuVries-Mann claw toe operation of the left second toe, and bilateral hearing loss.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted the veteran's request to reopen his claim of entitlement to compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151(a) for right bunionectomy and correction of hammertoe, second toe.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted a one month temporary total disability evaluation for convalescence following right and left bunionectomies in January and March 2000.
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