The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based upon individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) as he failed to cooperate with VA's efforts in obtaining information and evidence needed to substantiate his TDIU claim.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not meet the schedular threshold criteria for a TDIU, and his service-connected disabilities were not shown to render him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment consistent with his education and work history.
- Claimed conditions
- Cubital tunnel syndrome (CTS) of the right upper extremity, CTS of the left upper extremity, Lumbosacral spine strain, Chondromalacia patella of the left knee, Chondromalacia patella of the right knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 29, 2020
- Citation
- 20081265
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,676 · Granted: 24% (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 20081265.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for an initial compensable evaluation for a scar behind the left knee, an initial 20 percent evaluation for a low back disability prior to June 10, 2019, service connection for bilateral hearing loss and CTS of the left upper extremity, and service connection for a right shoulder disability are denied. The Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea secondary to PTSD is remanded.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent rating for PTSD prior to October 11, 2018, but denied higher ratings for his knee and spine conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for a new VA examination to determine the current nature and severity of the Veteran's bilateral knee disabilities, as well as the issue of entitlement to special monthly compensation based on loss of use of the lower extremities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for posterior neck scarring, PFB of the posterior neck and hairline, and lumbosacral spine strain are being remanded due to inadequate examination reports. Further evaluations by VA doctors will be needed.
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