The Board denied service connection for a lower back disability, left knee disability, and right knee disability. The Veteran's claim for a lower back disability was reopened due to new evidence.,Service connection was not granted for the left knee or right knee disabilities as there is no evidence of an in-service injury or disease.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the degenerative arthritis of the spine was consistent with aging and not related to service-connected injuries, while the left and right knee disabilities were attributed to natural aging processes.,There was no indication of a nexus between the Veteran's current knee disabilities and in-service incidents.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the spine, Left knee degenerative joint disease, Right knee degenerative joint disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 18, 2020
- Citation
- 20012572
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 20012572.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for degenerative arthritis of the spine, right knee degenerative arthritis, left knee degenerative arthritis, right ankle degenerative arthritis, and left ankle degenerative arthritis.
- Granted
The Veteran's low back disability is rated at 50 percent effective February 13, 2021. His left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy is rated at 80 percent from April 21, 2013 to February 12, 2021. The Veteran's TDIU claim has an earlier effective date of April 21, 2013.
- Granted
The Veteran's back condition is granted an increased disability rating of 40 percent, but no higher. The claims for service connection for LLE and RLE radiculopathies are remanded.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's lumbar spine, left knee, and right knee disabilities on a direct basis, finding that these conditions began during active service.
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