The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and earlier effective date for right ankle osteoarthritis were denied. The initial rating of 10% was granted on November 6, 2001.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations showed moderate limitation of motion prior to December 21, 2018, but no evidence of marked limitation after that date.
- Claimed conditions
- Right ankle osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- December 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19190924
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,604 · Granted: 65% (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 19190924.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for right knee instability is granted, with a 30 percent rating. The claims for increased ratings for right knee osteoarthritis (flexion) and left hip strain, osteoarthritis and bursitis based on painful motion are denied. The claim for an increased rating for right ankle osteoarthritis is also denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial 20 percent rating for left ankle strain and earlier effective dates of August 24, 1998 for service connection of hammertoes in the feet. Other claims were denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's major depression, recurrent moderately severe (previously rated as adjustment disorder with depressed mood), is granted a 70 percent disability rating for the period prior to January 17, 2020. For the period beginning from January 17, 2020, his major depression is granted a 100 percent disability rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the VA examination and opinions were inadequate, necessitating further developments to determine if the Veteran's right ankle disability is related to service.
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