The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral hip and knee disabilities are not service-connected as they did not manifest during or within a presumptive period following service, nor were there chronic manifestations noted in service. The evidence does not support a finding of an in-service injury or disease related to these conditions.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence is against finding that the Veteran's hip and knee disabilities are related to his military service due to lack of documented in-service injuries, continuity of symptomatology, and failure to meet the criteria for presumptive service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- {"condition_name":"Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) of bilateral hips","diagnosis_codes":["301.4"]}, {"condition_name":"Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) of bilateral knees","diagnosis_codes":["5267"]}
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19180249
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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