The Board denied service connection for a left shoulder/arm disability and denied entitlement to an increased rating for the Veteran's total left knee replacement. The Veteran's left shoulder/arm disability was found not related to active duty service, while his total left knee replacement was rated at 30% from March 1, 2016.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not support a finding of an in-service injury or disease for the left shoulder/arm disability and the VA examiner's opinion supported this conclusion.
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder/arm disability, total left knee replacement
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- October 26, 2020
- Citation
- 20068986
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 998 · Granted: 40% (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 20068986.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's left knee disability was granted an increased rating of 60 percent from June 24, 2014 to August 8, 2022 (excluding a temporary total rating period). As of August 9, 2022, the Veteran's claim for an increased rating in excess of 60 percent was denied. The Veteran's TDIU claim was also denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted increased 20 percent ratings for limitation of motion of the left and right knees prior to their respective total knee replacements, but denied ratings in excess of 10 percent for instability of both knees and in excess of 30 percent for total knee replacements.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for total left knee replacement and moderate osteoarthritis of the right knee, to include as secondary to a service-connected condition. The Board also denied effective dates prior to September 22, 2022, for certain disability ratings.
- Granted
The veteran's effective date for TDIU and DEA benefits is granted as of January 8, 2020.
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