The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for osteoarthritis of the right knee was denied. The Board found that no earlier effective date is warranted as there were no claims filed prior to April 8, 2014. For stomach cancer, the claim was also denied as it did not meet the criteria for presumptive service connection due to herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's stomach cancer was not shown during service or within one year of separation and there is no evidence linking it to his active service, including presumed Agent Orange exposure. The Board found that a medical opinion was not needed as the preponderance of the evidence did not support a finding of service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- osteoarthritis of the right knee, stomach cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19179031
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,874 · Granted: 33% (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 19179031.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to errors in developing evidence related to possible ionizing radiation exposure and TERA participation. The claim will be reconsidered with proper development of this information.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the rating reductions for lateral instability of the right knee and osteoarthritis of the right knee, so these issues are dismissed.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded several issues related to the Veteran's claims, including service connection for various conditions and a higher disability rating for chronic scalp folliculitis. The AOJ is instructed to obtain additional medical records and conduct further examinations as needed.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was determined to be stomach cancer, but the Board found no evidence linking it to his service or any service-connected conditions. The claim for service connection is denied.
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