The Veteran's claims for increased ratings were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating for his right ankle disability, as he had moderate limitation of motion and no marked limitation. His knee disabilities also did not meet criteria for higher ratings.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s right ankle disability was rated at its highest under Diagnostic Code 5271 (moderate limited motion) due to the absence of marked limitation of motion, even with complaints of pain. For his knees and lumbar spine, the evidence did not show chronic residuals consisting of severe painful motion or weakness.
- Claimed conditions
- Lumbar degenerative disk disease, status post L4-L5 laminotomies and diskectomies, Osteoarthritis of the right ankle, Tricompartmental osteoarthritis of the left knee (status post total knee replacement), Tricompartmental osteoarthritis of the right knee (status post total knee replacement)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20067314
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,451 · Granted: 22% (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 20067314.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for osteoarthritis of the right ankle was granted with an initial evaluation of 10 percent effective September 17, 2018. The Board has now granted a higher rating but is remanding to determine if an even higher rating is warranted.
- Granted
The Board has granted an initial 40 percent rating for the Veteran's right ankle disability, finding that his symptoms more nearly approximated ankylosis in dorsiflexion at more than 10 degrees during flare-ups and after repetitive use over time.
- Denied
The Veteran's right wrist carpal tunnel syndrome and left wrist carpal tunnel syndrome are currently rated at 30 percent and 20 percent, respectively. The Board denied the claims for higher ratings as the evidence did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under DC 8515.,The Veteran's osteoarthritis of the right ankle and left ankle are both currently rated at 10 percent. The Board denied the claims for higher ratings as there is no evidence that meets the criteria for a higher rating under Diagnostic Codes 5003-5271.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for additional development, including obtaining a new VA examination to address the inadequacies of previous examinations and obtain any relevant private treatment records.
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