The Veteran's petition to reopen his claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder was granted. Service connection for a right knee disorder and left knee disorder, both secondary to service-connected bilateral hammertoe, is denied. Service connection for a low back disorder, also secondary to service-connected bilateral hammertoe, is denied.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not establish a direct link between the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder and his military service or any service-connected condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as PTSD and anxiety), Right knee disorder, Left knee disorder, Low back disorder
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20004778
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,037 · Granted: 21% (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 20004778.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a low back disorder was reopened, and his claims for increased ratings of bilateral knee instability were granted. His hearing loss claim was denied.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a low back disorder. The claims for bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, bilateral knee disorder, and an acquired psychiatric disorder are remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection and TDIU due to duty to assist errors that occurred prior to the rating decision on appeal. The Veteran's right knee disorder is being remanded for an addendum opinion regarding its etiology.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a low back disorder, finding that the evidence did not show an in-service onset or relationship to service.
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