The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for right knee, neck, and left hand disabilities.,The decision also noted that new evidence was provided to reopen a previously denied claim of service connection for a sleep disability.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners found no direct link between the current knee conditions and active service, with some attributing them to pre-existing hip issues or muscle weakness. The Veteran's failure to report right knee symptoms during his multiple health assessments after 2000 was used as evidence against him.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee patellofemoral syndrome, broad disc, iliotibial band syndrome, lower extremity subluxation
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19121839
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 940 · Granted: 21% (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 19121839.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's right knee patellofemoral syndrome and degenerative arthritis are at least as likely as not related to his service-connected left knee bursitis, granting service connection for these conditions on a secondary basis.
- 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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for higher ratings on two conditions have been dismissed due to the withdrawal of the appeal by the Veteran.
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