The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral knee disorders are not related to his military service, including an in-service ejection injury. The weight of evidence does not support a finding that the arthritis was compensably disabling within one year of separation from active duty or that there is a nexus between current diagnoses and service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion outweighs the Veteran's lay reports of continuity of symptomatology since service, and the Board found no medical evidence linking his current knee disorders to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral degenerative arthritis of the knees, tear of the medial meniscus of the left knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 5, 2013
- Citation
- 1340096
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 1340096.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for bilateral knee, nasal, jaw, and foot disabilities are granted. The claim for bilateral pes planus is also granted on the basis that it was aggravated by service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that new and relevant evidence has been secured with respect to the claim of cervical spine condition (claimed as neck pain), and therefore, reconsideration is warranted. The Veteran's bilateral degenerative arthritis of the knees was aggravated beyond its natural progression due to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors regarding treatment records and a medical opinion on Allopurinol's effects.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate examination and incomplete medical records, particularly those from 1978 onwards. The Veteran's knee condition is being reviewed again with a new examiner.
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