The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not render him unable to follow substantially gainful employment prior to October 2, 2009.
The deciding factor: The Veteran missed a significant amount of work due to his service-connected disabilities and earned income below the poverty threshold for one person during the relevant period.
- Claimed conditions
- Right knee disability, Left hip replacement, Right hip strain (previously rated as 100% disabling), Left knee arthritis, Left knee status post arthroscopy, Lumbar spine disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- January 22, 2020
- Citation
- 20005012
Veterans Law Judge
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 20005012.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's TDIU claim for bilateral knee disabilities and his right and left knee scars have been granted. He is now rated at a combined 60% disability rating from June 1, 2018 based on bilateral factors for his bilateral knee disabilities.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for headaches and lumbar spine disability, as well as left and right lower extremity radiculopathy, were denied. The effective dates for these conditions are also denied.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a right knee disability, finding that his current diagnosis of right knee strain is related to his military service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims for service connection have been dismissed due to their death.
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