The Veteran's combined disability rating is 50%, which does not meet the schedular criteria for TDIU. The evidence shows that his service-connected disabilities do not render him unable to obtain and retain substantially gainful employment.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has a combined disability rating of 50% due to his service-connected bilateral knee and right hip conditions, which does not meet the schedular criteria for TDIU. The evidence shows that he is capable of obtaining and maintaining gainful employment based on his education, skill training, and work experience.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee dislocated semilunar cartilage, left knee derangement, status post arthroscopic surgery repair left knee meniscal tear, left knee osteoarthritis changes, moderate instability, right knee degenerative joint disease associated with left knee derangement, right hip strain associated with left knee derangement
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- December 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19196256
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,642 · Granted: 19% (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 19196256.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a disability rating of 30 percent for the service-connected left knee degenerative arthritis prior to August 7, 2015, and denied higher ratings for instability and dislocated semilunar cartilage.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for various left knee disabilities due to a lack of adequate medical evidence, specifically an MRI.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's back disability, sciatic nerve radiculopathy, femoral nerve radiculopathy, and left knee instability while granting a 10% rating for sciatic nerve radiculopathy from January 24, 2019, to August 30, 2019, and a 20% rating for left knee disability with instability beginning on that date. The Board also granted an initial 100% rating for major depressive disorder (MDD) effective February 5, 2021.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for left knee limitation of flexion but granted separate 20 percent ratings for left knee lateral instability and dislocated semilunar cartilage.
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