The Veteran's claim for service connection for a left knee disorder has been granted. Service connection for right foot pes planus and left foot pes planus is also granted. The rating for the acquired psychiatric disability, diagnosed as depressive disorder, remains at 30 percent prior to May 29, 2019, but increased to 70 percent since that date.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability has been found to meet criteria for a 70 percent rating due to occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Knee Disorder, Right Foot Pes Planus, Left Foot Pes Planus, Acquired Psychiatric Disability (Depressive Disorder)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- October 27, 2020
- Citation
- 20069358
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,934 · Granted: 41% (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 20069358.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 remanded the claims of service connection for right and left hip disorders due to a pre-decisional error in obtaining an adequate nexus opinion prior to the June 2021 rating decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for left and right knee disorders due to insufficient opinions regarding the onset and relationship to service.
- Granted
The Veteran's right foot pes planus was restored to a 10 percent rating effective July 1, 2020. The evidence did not show actual improvement in the disability under ordinary conditions of life and work.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection were denied. The rating in excess of 70 percent for Persistent Depressive Disorder, the rating in excess of 50 percent for OSA, and the compensable rating for Migraine Headaches are all denied. Service connection for a Left Knee Disorder is also denied.
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