The Board has granted service connection for left knee patellofemoral syndrome with iliotibial band syndrome and denied service connection for an eye disability and left ear hearing loss. The Veteran's current left knee condition is found to be related to his in-service injury, while the evidence does not support a finding of a current eye or ear disability.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the Veteran’s current left knee conditions are at least as likely as not related to service due to documented treatment and the Veteran's consistent report of pain during service. For the eye disability claim, the Board found no evidence of an in-service injury or disease leading to a congenital defect (refractive error) which is not service-connected. The left ear hearing loss was deemed insufficiently severe to meet VA criteria for a disability.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee patellofemoral syndrome, iliotibial band syndrome, eye disability (refractive error), left ear hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- December 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19191765
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 19191765.
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.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and bilateral vision condition was dismissed. Service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease was denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 20 percent disability rating for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy from April 3, 2023 onward, but denied higher ratings prior to that date. Service connection was also granted for alcohol use disorder as secondary to PTSD with traumatic brain injury.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of left ear hearing loss due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, as an addendum opinion is necessary to address evidence of in-service hearing loss and convert audiometric testing results from ASA to ISO-ANSI standards.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for left ear hearing loss to obtain an adequate VA opinion addressing the hearing loss demonstrated on the September 1968 and July 1974 examination, under both ASA and ISO-ANSI standards.
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