The Board has determined that the earliest possible effective date for the award of service connection is April 20, 2012. The Veteran's claim was received on this date and he did not have a pending, unadjudicated claim prior to this date.
The deciding factor: The law requires an effective date based on the date of receipt of the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later. In this case, the earliest possible effective date is April 20, 2012, as that is when the Veteran's initial claim for service connection was received.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee torn medial meniscectomy, osteoarthritis with limitation of flexion, degenerative arthritis of the right knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- April 14, 2016
- Citation
- 1615170
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 1615170.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal has been dismissed due to their death. The claims for increased ratings and individual unemployability have all been dismissed.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected low back disability, along with other disabilities, rendered her unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment as of April 1, 2020. She is granted a TDIU effective from that date.,Effective April 1, 2020, the Veteran also received SMC at the 's' rate due to having one service-connected disability rated as 100 percent disabling and additional disabilities independently rated at least 60 percent disabling.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claim for irritable bowel syndrome was granted. The claims for degenerative arthritis of the right and left knees are remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional development due to inadequate medical opinions in the original decision. The issues of service connection are being addressed.
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