The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's left knee disorder, diagnosed as osteoarthritis, finding that it is at least as likely as not incurred during active service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran reported continuous symptoms since a 1988 injury during active service and had multiple medical opinions supporting this claim. The April 2014 VA examiner's negative opinion was discounted due to the lack of contemporaneous medical evidence, while Dr. W.'s opinion based on review of records and understanding of the Veteran's history was found more probative.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee disorder (osteoarthritis)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 24, 2019
- Citation
- 19105632
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,092 · Granted: 42% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19105632.
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 service connection for bilateral shin splints and left knee osteoarthritis as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to the Veteran's military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for a left knee disorder, finding that there was no evidence to support direct or secondary service connection. The appeal is dismissed.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a left knee disorder, finding that the condition was not incurred in or related to service and did not meet any presumptive criteria.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's left knee disorder, diagnosed as osteoarthritis, due to his service-connected right ankle disability. The decision finds that the Veteran's right ankle disability is a proximate cause of his left knee arthritis.
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