The Veteran's claim for increased rating of his left ankle disability was granted, with a 20% disability rating effective from the date of the decision. The claims for service connection for right knee and right ankle disabilities were reopened due to new evidence received since the final denial in July 2012. Service connection for cervical spine condition was also remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's left ankle disability, characterized as a tear status post surgery, presented with moderate limitation of motion which warranted a 20% rating under Diagnostic Code 5271.
- Claimed conditions
- Right knee disability, Right ankle disability, Left ligament tendon and peroneal tendon tear status post surgery (right ankle), Cervical spine spondylosis with degenerative disc disorder and chronic myofascial pain
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- March 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19122216
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,240 · Granted: 28% (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 19122216.
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 Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of January 10, 1997, for a 10% disability rating for his right ankle disability is denied as there was no CUE in the previous decisions.
- Granted
The Veteran's TDIU claim for bilateral knee disabilities and his right and left knee scars have been granted. He is now rated at a combined 60% disability rating from June 1, 2018 based on bilateral factors for his bilateral knee disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's right ankle disability is related to his service. The VA examiner must provide an opinion on this matter.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a right knee disability, finding that his current diagnosis of right knee strain is related to his military service.
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