The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a left knee disability and an acquired psychiatric disability, finding that there was no evidence of chronic left knee or psychiatric conditions during service or within one year after separation. The VA examinations did not support a direct relationship between these disabilities and service.,The Board also found insufficient evidence to establish secondary service connection for the psychiatric disability due to service-connected back and knee disabilities.
The deciding factor: There was no chronic left knee condition documented during or within one year after service, and the VA examinations did not find a link between current left knee osteoarthritis and service. For the acquired psychiatric disability, there is conflicting evidence regarding its onset and relationship to service; however, the Board found that the Veteran's psychiatric symptoms were first noted decades after service.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Knee Disability, Acquired Psychiatric Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20079926
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 20079926.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected knee disabilities are rated at 10% each, and the Board finds that higher ratings are not warranted based on the evidence of record.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral knee disabilities are not related to his active service, and thus denied both claims for service connection.
- Denied
The Veteran's left knee disability is currently rated at 30 percent, and the Board finds no evidence of clear and unmistakable error in assigning an effective date of June 19, 2002.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his low back, left knee, and right knee disabilities due to inadequate VA examinations. The AOJ is instructed to obtain private treatment records from Mays & Schnapp Pain Management and schedule the Veteran for additional medical examinations.
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