The Veteran's service-connected left knee disabilities render him unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation, warranting a TDIU on an extraschedular basis.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's left knee conditions have been shown by the medical evidence to impact his ability to walk, limiting his capacity for employment in physically demanding roles such as mail carrier and fireman.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee meniscectomy, ligament repair, status post surgery, post traumatic degenerative joint disease of the left knee, scars associated with the Veteran’s left knee surgery, left knee anterior instability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- November 19, 2020
- Citation
- 20074278
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for higher initial ratings for his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities and SMC based on loss of use of the bilateral lower extremities.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for the veteran's left knee degenerative arthritis, left knee limitation of extension, and symptomatic residuals of a left knee meniscectomy prior to February 16, 2021. However, it granted a 100 percent rating from August 1, 2021, to February 16, 2022, for a left knee total knee replacement and denied increased ratings thereafter.
- Denied
The Board denied an initial compensable rating for left knee limitation of extension, an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for left knee limitation of flexion, and an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for left knee anterior instability.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
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