The Veteran's nonpainful residual scars of the left knee are currently rated as noncompensable.,The Veteran is seeking an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for a painful residual scar of the left knee, but this claim has been denied.,A rating of 20 percent for an unstable and painful residual scar of the left knee since June 21, 2019 has been granted.,The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the left knee with recurrent instability is currently rated at 10 percent.,A rating of 30 percent for degenerative arthritis of the left knee with recurrent instability since June 21, 2019 has been granted.,The Veteran's painful motion with flexion of the left knee prior to July 8, 2019 is rated at 10 percent and a separate noncompensable rating for degenerative arthritis of the left knee with limited extension since June 21, 2019 has been granted.,The Veteran's service connection claim does not involve any presumption or exposure basis.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of evidence did not support a finding that the nonpainful residual scars were unstable or associated with neurological abnormalities prior to June 21, 2019.,Since June 21, 2019, the residual scar was observed to be both painful and unstable. The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the left knee manifested as severe recurrent instability since June 21, 2019.,The Veteran’s painful motion with flexion prior to July 8, 2019 had manifestations of severe chronic pain on movement, swelling, interference with sitting and standing. Since July 8, 2019, the Veteran's painful motion with flexion has manifested as such.,Since June 21, 2019, degenerative arthritis of the left knee manifested as limited extension of 7 degrees.
- Claimed conditions
- nonpainful residual scars of the left knee, painful residual scar of the left knee, degenerative arthritis of the left knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19193235
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,030 · Granted: 17% (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 19193235.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for a higher rating for his left femur fracture with degenerative arthritis of the left knee was dismissed because there was no appealable decision on this issue in the year preceding the June 2021 Notice of Disagreement.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for degenerative arthritis of the spine and left knee, finding that there is a causal relationship between these conditions and service based on continuity of symptoms since service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected low back disability, along with other disabilities, rendered her unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment as of April 1, 2020. She is granted a TDIU effective from that date.,Effective April 1, 2020, the Veteran also received SMC at the 's' rate due to having one service-connected disability rated as 100 percent disabling and additional disabilities independently rated at least 60 percent disabling.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claim for irritable bowel syndrome was granted. The claims for degenerative arthritis of the right and left knees are remanded.
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