The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for his service-connected left foot disorder, low back disorder, tendonitis of the right knee, and bilateral hearing loss were granted. The initial evaluations assigned prior to February 8, 2007, for left foot disorder are 20 percent; beginning February 8, 2007, they are 10 percent. For low back disorder, the initial evaluation is 30 percent beginning March 31, 2011. The right knee tendonitis initially received a noncompensable evaluation and then a 10 percent evaluation beginning March 11, 2008; it remains at a noncompensable evaluation for hearing loss.

The deciding factor: The Veteran's service-connected left foot disorder was found to have moderate impairment prior to February 8, 2007, and severe impairment from March 31, 2011. The low back disorder had limitation of motion with forward flexion ranging from 0 to 60 degrees on evaluation in March 2011. Right knee tendonitis was found to have early osteoarthritis of the medial compartment. Bilateral hearing loss was found to be at Level II in the left ear and Level I in the right ear.

Claimed conditions

left foot drop/neuropathy (left foot disorder), spondylosis, degenerative disc disease, status post microdiscectomy of the lumbar spine (low back disorder), tendonitis of the right knee, bilateral hearing loss

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

None in this decision

Decision date

October 10, 2012

Citation

1235115

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 1235115.