The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for the grants of service connection for right and left knee disabilities are granted, both effective December 23, 1989.
The deciding factor: VA received an original claim within one year of discharge on December 22, 1989. The STRs were not considered in the initial decision due to unsuccessful attempts to obtain them. New and material evidence was not submitted within a year of the prior denial. The Veteran's STRs were added to his file in October 2008 during the pendency of his claim to reopen, allowing reconsideration.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee degenerative joint disease (DJD) with postoperative meniscal tear and chondroplasty, left knee DJD
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 28, 2016
- Citation
- 1648207
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 1648207.
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 Board denied the Veteran's claims for revision of a March 2009 rating decision that denied service connection for left knee DJD secondary to right knee DJD and granted a 30 percent rating for PTSD. The Veteran argued CUE in both decisions, but the Board found no evidence of CUE.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for revision of a March 2009 rating decision that denied service connection for left knee DJD secondary to right knee DJD and granted a 30 percent rating for PTSD. The Veteran argued CUE in both decisions, but the Board found no evidence of CUE.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected left leg shrapnel injury is found to have resulted in left knee DJD. The Veteran meets the criteria for SAH due to his service-connected disabilities, which require constant use of a walker or cane for ambulation.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for bilateral knee disabilities (left and right DJD) as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability.
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