The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of a right knee disorder as secondary to his service-connected left knee disability, finding that there is no causal relationship between the two conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no link exists between the Veteran’s left and right knee disorders based on medical literature and the Veteran's pain response was out of proportion to current knee radiographs.
- Claimed conditions
- Right knee disorder, Left knee disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19178440
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,199 · Granted: 25% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19178440.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's TDIU claim for bilateral knee disabilities and his right and left knee scars have been granted. He is now rated at a combined 60% disability rating from June 1, 2018 based on bilateral factors for his bilateral knee disabilities.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's entitlement to higher level of SMC at the intermediate rate is granted, effective from January 8, 2021. He was previously in need of aid and attendance due to his left knee disability since February 1, 2017, and now has additional disabilities rated at 50 percent or more.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection and TDIU due to duty to assist errors that occurred prior to the rating decision on appeal. The Veteran's right knee disorder is being remanded for an addendum opinion regarding its etiology.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to an error in notifying the Veteran of his right to a hearing, and not because of any issues with service connection.
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