The Veteran's service-connected disabilities are not of sufficient severity to produce unemployability without regard to advancing age or non-service connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has a combined disability evaluation of 80%, which meets the percentage standards set forth in section 4.16(a). However, his unemployment is due to a non-service-connected mental disorder (depressive reaction), and not solely from his service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- left total knee replacement, left thigh atrophy, left calf atrophy, osteomyelitis, left femur, inactive, left knee scars
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 25, 2017
- Citation
- 1713389
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 1713389.
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 appeals for increased ratings for left and right knee scars have been dismissed due to the Veteran's withdrawal of his appeal.
- Denied
The Board denied an initial compensable rating for left knee scars, finding that the evidence did not support a higher evaluation as the combined area of the Veteran's scars was less than the required threshold for a 10% rating.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to secure or follow any form of substantially gainful employment prior to March 26, 2020. The effective date for the grant of TDIU is set at December 11, 2019.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's requests for earlier effective dates for service connection of his left knee strain and scars, finding that the earliest possible effective date was May 29, 2020, based on when he submitted a request to reopen his previously denied claims.
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