The Board denied service connection for right knee disability, left knee disability, bilateral shoulder impingement syndrome, and DDD/DJD of the lumbar spine as they are not related to service or secondary to a service-connected condition.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the Veteran's current right knee disability was less likely than not caused by his in-service injury due to the significant time gap between the presumed in-service injury and the need for total knee replacement.
- Claimed conditions
- {"condition_name":"Right Knee Disability","status_post":"Total Knee Replacement (TKR)"}, {"condition_name":"Left Knee Disability","status_post":"Total Knee Replacement (TKR)"}, {"condition_name":"Left Shoulder Impingement Syndrome"}, {"condition_name":"Right Shoulder Impingement Syndrome"}, {"condition_name":"Degenerative Disc Disease and Degenerative Joint Disease of the Lumbar Spine"}
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19125638
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
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