The Board has determined that the Veteran's rheumatoid arthritis and right knee osteoarthritis are not related to her service. The evidence does not support a finding of in-service onset or chronicity.,Service connection for rheumatoid arthritis is denied as there is no evidence of its manifestation during service, and the April 2013 VA examiner opined that it is unrelated to service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's STRs do not show any complaints, treatment, or diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. The April 2013 VA examiner found no evidence of a relationship between the Veteran's tularemia and placebo chikungunya vaccines and her development of rheumatoid arthritis.
- Claimed conditions
- Rheumatoid Arthritis, Right Knee Osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 6, 2014
- Citation
- 1449354
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 1449354.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for his awards of ratings for right and left knee osteoarthritis based on limitation of extension. The evidence did not show a compensable limitation of extension prior to February 6, 2025.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right and left knee disabilities, finding that the current conditions are not related to service due to lack of evidence of a chronic condition during service or post-service continuity.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal for higher ratings for his right knee disability is remanded due to the need for additional medical evidence and consideration of medication effects.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for higher ratings for right knee instability, limited range of motion (ROM), and scar are being remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
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