The Veteran's petition to reopen his claim for service connection for DJD of the bilateral knees was denied. The Board also remanded his claim for GERD due to an undiagnosed Gulf War illness.
The deciding factor: New evidence did not establish a direct link between the claimed conditions and active service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) of the bilateral knees, Gastroesophageal Disorder (GERD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 27, 2019
- Citation
- 19150422
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for bilateral knee and back conditions due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims of service connection for cervical spine, bilateral knee, and tinnitus conditions were denied as new and material evidence was not received to reopen the claims. The claim for a higher evaluation for lumbar spine disability with IVDS is also denied.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a medical examination to determine if the Veteran's current neck strain is related to his in-service activities.
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