The Veteran's claim of service connection for PTSD, a right knee condition, a back condition, and a right ankle condition has been granted. The appeal to reopen the PTSD claim is also granted. Service connection is established for PTSD based on personal assault allegations. The appeals for the right knee, back, and right ankle conditions are remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran presented new evidence (a statement from his roommate) supporting a verified in-service stressor leading to PTSD. The VA examiner confirmed that the Veteran's current symptoms of PTSD are related to service. For the right knee, back, and right ankle conditions, additional medical examination is required as there is insufficient evidence linking these conditions directly to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Right Knee Condition, Back Condition, Right Ankle Condition
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20074915
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,217 · Granted: 46% (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 20074915.
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 Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to December 27, 2019 for the grant of service connection for PTSD was denied as there is no earlier claim document in the claims file and the Veteran did not timely perfect an appeal.
- Granted
The Veteran's PTSD is granted as a result of military sexual trauma (MST) that occurred during service. The Board found the Veteran's testimony and supporting evidence credible, including her VA and private treatment records.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for TDIU is granted with an effective date of August 17, 2022. The decision also denies the Veteran's request for Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) due to lack of need for aid and attendance or being housebound.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for bilateral knee conditions, finding that the Veteran's current knee conditions are more likely than not related to his military service.
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