The Veteran's left ankle and left knee disabilities are granted as service connected.,The reduction in rating for the right knee disability from 40% to 30% effective June 1, 2017 was not proper.
The deciding factor: The evidence showed that the Veteran’s current left ankle and left knee disabilities were related to his military service, including his parachute duties.
- Claimed conditions
- Left ankle arthritis, Left knee arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- December 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19192503
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,421 · Granted: 29% (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 19192503.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a left ankle disability and a bilateral foot disability, finding that there was no evidence of an in-service injury or disease related to these conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions have been granted, including back disability, tinea pedis and tinea unguium, right foot degenerative changes, left hip disability, left knee arthritis, and psychiatric disabilities. The Board also found that the bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy is secondary to his back disability.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, right knee arthritis, and left knee arthritis. The claims for PTSD and radiculopathy are remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for right knee disability and left knee arthritis due to insufficient reasoning in previous decisions, including a lack of adequate examination regarding the nature and etiology of his right knee disability. The Court also found that there was an issue with missing service treatment records.
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