The Veteran's claims for higher ratings for her left ankle and knee disabilities, as well as service connection for DM-II and bilateral hip osteoarthritis, were denied. The effective date of the increased ratings is set to January 2014.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence did not support finding that any of the conditions were related to service or within a year of discharge.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic left ankle sprain, Left patellar chondromalacia, Diabetes Mellitus Type II (DM-II), Bilateral hip osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- October 13, 2020
- Citation
- 20066159
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,669 · Granted: 23% (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 20066159.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate medical opinions regarding whether the bilateral hip osteoarthritis is secondary to service-connected chronic left quadriceps strain and whether obesity played a role in causing or aggravating the condition.
- Granted
The Veteran's date of entitlement to TDIU most likely arose in 2009, but the earliest effective date granted is November 24, 2014.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, posttraumatic stress disorder, and bilateral hip osteoarthritis secondary to left shoulder arthritis. The claim for hypertension was remanded due to a predecisional duty to assist error.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied an initial rating in excess of 50 percent for obstructive sleep apnea and remanded the claim for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II.
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