The Veteran's appeal is denied as the service-connected right knee impairment does not meet the criteria for a rating greater than 10 percent due to instability, and there is no separate rating for arthritis.,Residuals of a right fifth finger injury are not considered related to active service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's right knee disability has been rated based on limitation of motion rather than instability as the evidence does not support findings of recurrent subluxation or lateral instability. The arthritis is evaluated separately under Diagnostic Code 5260.
- Claimed conditions
- Residuals of a right fifth finger injury, Impairment of the right knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 15, 2017
- Citation
- 1707768
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 1707768.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal for an increased disability rating for his service-connected right knee impairment is remanded due to the need for additional medical evidence and a more comprehensive examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for entitlement to increased ratings for his right and left knee disabilities due to a lack of recent VA examination, which is needed to assess current severity.
- Denied
The Board denied a higher rating for the Veteran's right knee disability, but granted a separate 20 percent rating for his meniscal tear and a 10 percent rating for genu recurvatum from October 15, 2015 to February 20, 2020. The Veteran is not entitled to additional ratings under 38 C.F.R. § 3.324.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected knee disabilities, heel condition, and ORIF have been granted effective May 23, 2002. The initial ratings for each condition are now in line with the current disability levels.,Effective May 23, 2002, the Veteran is entitled to a 10 percent rating for impairment of both knees (subluxation), limitation of flexion of both knees, and right heel plantar fasciitis with Achilles bursitis. The Veteran's ORIF condition also received an initial compensable rating.,The effective date for these ratings has been set at May 23, 2002, the date on which VA determined that the conditions were service-connected.
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