The Board denied service connection for various knee and shoulder disabilities, as well as a lumbar spine and cervical spine disability. The reasons given were that the Veteran's current conditions did not have their inception during active duty or are otherwise etiologically related to an in-service injury or disease.
The deciding factor: VA examiners found no evidence of chronic knee or shoulder conditions in service, and the Board agreed with this assessment based on the lack of medical records documenting such conditions prior to separation from service.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee arthritis, right knee arthritis, left shoulder rotator cuff tendonitis, right shoulder arthritis and rotator cuff tear, lumbar spine degenerative joint disease and stenosis, cervical spine degenerative disc disease, degenerative joint disease, stenosis, and radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19177807
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, finding that the evidence did not support higher ratings or service connection for the claimed conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for a higher rating in excess of the current ratings for various musculoskeletal conditions.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for right knee arthritis, finding that the Veteran's condition is related to his active duty service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for left knee arthritis, right knee arthritis, and tinnitus. The increased evaluation claim for pes planus was denied, as was the increase in rating for the right wrist fracture. The reduction of the right wrist rating from 10 percent to 0 percent was found improper, restoring the 10 percent rating.
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