The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings were dismissed due to his withdrawal of the appeal. The RO granted a separate rating for left knee semilunar cartilage tear associated with DJD, but denied an earlier effective date. Ratings for right and left total hip replacements are granted at 70 percent.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his appeals before the Board could review them. An earlier effective date was not established as there was no evidence of a semilunar cartilage tear prior to October 25, 2012. Ratings for right and left total hip replacements are granted at 70 percent.
- Claimed conditions
- left great toe status post bunionectomy with residual scar, right great toe status post bunionectomy with residual scar, left knee semilunar cartilage tear associated with left knee degenerative joint disease (DJD), right total hip replacement, left total hip replacement
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- April 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19130644
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,604 · Granted: 65% (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 19130644.
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for right total hip replacement, to include as secondary to bilateral knee disabilities, for readjudication based on new and relevant evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for hip disabilities, including arthritis and chronic joint pain, as secondary to his service-connected lumbar spine degenerative disc disease. The remand requires additional medical opinions regarding the etiology of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of right ear hearing loss, hypertension (HTN), or right total hip replacement for VA purposes. The claims are being remanded to obtain additional evidence and provide further examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a duty-to-assist error and will need to obtain a medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected conditions contributed to his death.
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