The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for a right knee disability and granted it, finding that new and material evidence had been received to support the claim. The right knee disability is found to be related to his service-connected left knee disability.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided by both VA examiners and a private orthopedic specialist are in equipoise regarding whether the Veteran's right knee disability was caused or aggravated by his service-connected left knee disability, thus granting service connection based on the benefit of doubt.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Knee Arthritis, Right Knee Total Knee Replacement
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 20, 2015
- Citation
- 1544617
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 1544617.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating prior to August 12, 2013 was denied as his right knee disability did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under Diagnostic Code 5003.,The Veteran's claim for a higher rating from April 1, 2016 was denied as he is already receiving the maximum allowable disability rating of 60 percent for total right knee replacement.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings and service connection were denied. The rating for PTSD was not granted, and the claims for left foot neuropathy, right foot neuropathy, left knee arthroplasty and rheumatoid arthritis, and right knee arthritis were also denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's right knee disability is found to have resulted from his active service, and the Board has granted service connection for this condition.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's right knee disability, finding that it is caused by his service-connected left knee disability.
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