The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a right knee disability, including gouty arthropathy, finding that there was no evidence of onset during or within one year after service and no relationship to any period of active service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the current right knee disability is not related to either period of active service due to lack of in-service symptoms and a thorough examination at separation did not show gout or right knee disability. The Veteran's lay statements regarding onset were inconsistent, and no medical opinion supported a nexus between the current condition and service.
- Claimed conditions
- gouty arthropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 19, 2021
- Citation
- 21016131
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 21016131.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The veteran's claims for service connection for hypertension, hypertensive heart disease, chronic kidney disease, and anemia were granted. The claims for bladder cancer, erectile dysfunction, gouty arthropathy were denied. The claim for transient ischemic attack was remanded.
- Granted
The Board finds that the evidence is in equipoise and, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, service connection for gouty arthropathy is granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the Veteran's claim for a higher rating for chronic joint pain of the left hand and bilateral lower extremities due to gouty arthropathy needs further development, including a new VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for gouty arthropathy of the left hand and bilateral lower extremities is being remanded due to incomplete examination report, lack of VA treatment records since May 2011 from Little Rock VAMC, and need for additional development.
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