The Veteran's left hip replacement, right hip replacement, right knee replacement, and left knee replacement are granted as they were incurred during active service. The claims for left shoulder impingement syndrome with arthritis and right shoulder impingement syndrome with arthritis are denied.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners concluded that the current bilateral hip and knee conditions are not related to the Veteran's in-service injuries, but there is conflicting evidence from a private physician who believes they may be related. The Board finds this evidence insufficient to grant service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Hip Replacement, Right Hip Replacement, Right Knee Replacement, Left Knee Replacement, Left Shoulder Impingement Syndrome with Arthritis, Right Shoulder Impingement Syndrome with Arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19116094
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,287 · Granted: 23% (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 19116094.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's left knee disability is rated at 30 percent for the total knee replacement and a 10 percent rating for the scar. The appeal was granted on both issues.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional examinations and opinions to determine the severity of his service-connected right hip disability, scars, and DDD/IVDS of the thoracolumbar spine.
- Denied
The Veteran's preexisting right knee disability was not worsened beyond natural progression during service, and the Board denied his claim for service connection.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for increased ratings and TDIU was denied. The left hip replacement did not meet the criteria for a higher rating, and no separate or higher ratings were assigned under other diagnostic codes.
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