The Board denied compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for the residuals of right knee surgery, finding that the proximate cause of additional disabilities was not due to VA's carelessness, negligence, or similar instance of fault.
The deciding factor: The post-service medical records do not show objective evidence of an additional disability due to the 2012 right TKA surgery and known risk factors after any major surgery were communicated to the Veteran prior to surgery.
- Claimed conditions
- right lower extremity neuropathy, heart disability (resulting in pacemaker), holes in buttocks, additional right lower extremity disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 3, 2020
- Citation
- 20058432
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 20058432.
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.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for left hip arthritis, right hip arthritis, type II diabetes, right lower extremity neuropathy, left lower extremity neuropathy, and sleep apnea as they have become service-connected in other rating decisions.
- Granted
The Veteran's diabetes mellitus type 2 and associated neuropathy in both upper and lower extremities are granted with a 60 percent disability rating, effective October 21, 2019.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral lower extremity neuropathy, finding no evidence of such conditions during or within one year after service and noting that the Veteran's current symptoms are not related to his military service.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for left lower extremity neuropathy, which is secondary to his service-connected left knee disability.
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