The Veteran's ratings for his bilateral knee conditions were reduced, and a separate rating was granted for symptomatic removal of semilunar cartilage. A new 50% rating was granted for arthritis with limitation of motion as of July 17, 2019.
The deciding factor: The reduction in disability ratings was based on improvement in the Veteran's knee conditions and his ability to function under ordinary conditions of daily life.
- Claimed conditions
- Right knee chondromalacia with instability, Left knee chondromalacia with instability, Right knee osteoarthritis with limitation of motion, Left knee osteoarthritis with limitation of motion
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- December 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20080704
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,341 · Granted: 33% (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 20080704.
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
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The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not preclude him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation, thus his claim for total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings, finding that his claimed conditions were not related to his service-connected knee disabilities. The Veteran was also denied a TDIU claim.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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