The Veteran's claims for service connection for back pain and left knee conditions were denied in a March 1996 rating decision. The effective date of the grant of service connection is November 7, 2013, which was the date he submitted an informal claim to reopen his previously denied claims.
The deciding factor: The effective date for the grant of service connection is the date of receipt of the request to reopen the previously denied claims (November 7, 2013), as this is the date of the request to reopen and there can be no earlier effective date.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative arthritis of the spine (lumbosacral strain), left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19186688
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for rhinorrhea and denied initial compensable evaluations for headaches and left knee disability, while remanding the claim for a respiratory disorder.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 40 percent rating for lumbosacral strain and denied or remanded the other issues on appeal.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew all pending appeals on April 28, 2025.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew his appeal prior to the promulgation of a decision, and all claims were dismissed.
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