The Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for a right knee injury is reopened, and he is granted an effective date of August 26, 1996. The appeal regarding Bell’s palsy with incomplete paralysis of the left cranial nerve remains pending as there was no final decision on this issue. The Veteran's claim for service connection for a right knee disorder is remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran submitted new and material evidence that raised a reasonable possibility of substantiating his claims, including chronic right knee diagnoses from multiple medical providers indicating the disorders may have begun in service.
- Claimed conditions
- Bell's palsy, right knee injury, left knee patellofemoral syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- December 20, 2018
- Citation
- 18159420
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 18159420.
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 claim for service connection of a left knee disability, finding that it is not proximately due to or aggravated by his service-connected back and sciatica disabilities. The evidence did not support a nexus between the Veteran's current condition and his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have rendered him unable to secure and follow substantially gainful employment, leading to a TDIU rating.
- Granted
The Veteran's hypertension, left knee patellofemoral syndrome, and right knee patellofemoral syndrome have been granted service connection as secondary to his service-connected disabilities. The lumbar spine disability has also been granted but the effective date is not specified.
- Granted
The Veteran's right hip pain, muscle spasms, Bell's palsy, trouble breathing, and shaving profile/skin condition are all granted service connection. However, the claims for muscle spasms, Bell's palsy, trouble breathing, and shaving profile/skin condition were denied as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions.
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