The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including his left total knee arthroplasty and sciatic radiculopathy of the lower extremities, resulted in permanent effective loss of use of one or both feet. The Board granted eligibility for financial assistance in purchasing an automobile due to this finding.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, combined with worsening nonservice-connected conditions, led to significant functional impairment resulting in effective loss of use of his feet.
- Claimed conditions
- left total knee arthroplasty, anterolisthesis, L4 on L5, degenerative basis, sciatic radiculopathy of the left and right lower extremities
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 80%
- Decision date
- November 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19185693
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,036 · Granted: 27% (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 19185693.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 case due to issues being intertwined with other claims, and will be reconsidered once those claims are resolved.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for right knee status post total knee replacement, left total knee arthroplasty, left knee osteoarthritis, and right knee osteoarthritis due to a lack of evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied increased ratings for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy, but remanded claims for higher ratings of the knee arthroplasties, hip bursitis, lumbar spine disability, and TDIU.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to an initial rating higher than 30 percent for a left total knee arthroplasty due to a duty to assist error regarding outstanding private medical records.
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