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Denied

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee arthritis, right knee arthritis, chronic low back pain with degenerative changes, left calcaneal osteophytosis, and right calcaneal osteophytosis. The appeals were also denied for increased ratings in excess of 20 percent for chronic low back pain with degenerative changes and in excess of 10 percent for left and right calcaneal osteophytosis.

The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence did not support a finding that any of the Veteran's claimed conditions began during service or were otherwise related to an in-service injury, event, or disease.

Claimed conditions
left knee arthritis, right knee arthritis, chronic low back pain with degenerative changes, left calcaneal osteophytosis, right calcaneal osteophytosis
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
20%
Decision date
April 23, 2019
Citation
19131056

Veterans Law Judge

DONNIE R. HACHEY

Decisions by this judge: 2,249 · Granted: 37% (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 19131056.

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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