The Board denied reopening the claim for service connection of a back disability, to include as secondary to bilateral knee disabilities. The Veteran's right and left knee disabilities have been assigned separate ratings under various diagnostic codes.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim for service connection of a back disability, to include as secondary to bilateral knee disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Back disability (claimed as secondary to service-connected bilateral knee disabilities), Right knee degenerative joint disease, Right knee anterior cruciate ligament, postoperative, Left knee degenerative joint disease, Left knee status post medial collateral ligament tear
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 2, 2015
- Citation
- 1514225
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 1514225.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for left and right knee disabilities were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a rating in excess of 10 percent for left knee degenerative joint disease.
- Granted
The Veteran's right knee disability is granted as service connected, effective August 19, 2009. The Veteran's MDD is rated at 70 percent and his TDIU due to MDD is also granted.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation prior to April 6, 2022. Therefore, the claim for TDIU prior to that date is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's right knee disability is currently rated at 10 percent, and the Board finds that a remand is necessary to determine if it warrants a higher evaluation. Additionally, the TDIU claim is inextricably intertwined with the increased rating claim for right knee disability.
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