The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for left ankle lateral collateral ligament sprain, osteoarthritis and for an acquired psychiatric disorder to include PTSD. The decision found that there was no evidence of herbicide exposure during service and that the current disabilities were not related to service.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that there was insufficient evidence to support the Veteran's claims for service connection due to lack of direct evidence linking his current conditions to service, including a lack of in-service treatment records or medical nexus opinions.
- Claimed conditions
- left ankle lateral collateral ligament sprain, osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 8, 2020
- Citation
- A20018126
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,762 · Granted: 24% (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 A20018126.
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 Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions were granted effective from July 1, 2020.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal because the appellant requested to withdraw his appeal for service connection claims related to left ankle lateral collateral ligament sprain, left knee strain, bilateral hearing loss, and low back injury.
- Granted
The Board has granted an increase in PCAFC benefits to Level 2, finding that the Veteran requires continuous supervision or protection due to his cognitive decline and repeated falls.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a right knee disability, finding that it is neither secondary to his service-connected right femoral neuropathy nor directly related to his active-duty service.
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