The Board denied service connection for left and right knee disabilities, finding that the Veteran's current knee conditions are not related to his military service. The Board also granted a 20 percent evaluation for the Veteran's service-connected left ankle disability.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners found no chronicity of bilateral knee pain in service and concluded that any current knee conditions were due to aging or unrelated to service.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee degenerative arthritis, meniscal tear, knee strain, inflammatory spondylarthritis, right knee degenerative arthritis, inflammatory arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- January 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19103476
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for right knee meniscal tear with degenerative arthritis and granted a separate 20 percent rating for right knee instability.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for lumbar spine degenerative arthritis, left and right lower extremity radiculopathies, left and right hip pain, right knee degenerative arthritis, generalized anxiety disorder, and depressive disorder.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for left knee degenerative arthritis and a rating of 30 percent for left knee joint instability, while remanding other issues.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and right knee osteoarthritis, but denied service connection for left knee degenerative arthritis, right hand degenerative arthritis, left hand degenerative arthritis, left shoulder subdeltoid bursitis (claimed as degenerative arthritis), right shoulder strain (claimed as degenerative arthritis), major depressive disorder, and an anxiety disorder.
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