The Veteran's claim for service connection for degenerative arthritis is denied as there is no evidence of a current disability and the STRs do not show any treatment or complaints related to this condition.,Service connection for myocardial infarction is denied because there is no indication that it occurred during active duty, reserve duty, or within one year post-service. The Veteran's STRs are silent on heart problems, and his current diagnosis of a myocardial infarction is not linked to service.,The claim for service connection for PTSD is denied as the Veteran did not have any in-service stressors that were verified by VA and there is no evidence linking his current psychiatric condition to service. The STRs do not show any treatment or diagnoses related to a psychiatric disability.,Service connection for hypertension is denied because there is no indication of hypertension during active duty, and post-service records are negative for this condition. There is also no link between the Veteran's current diagnosis of hypertension and his military service.,The claim for low back disability is remanded as the VA examiner did not consider the Veteran's STRs showing a motor vehicle accident in service that resulted in back pain, nor did they perform any diagnostic testing.,Service connection for right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome is denied because there are no STRs indicating treatment or complaints related to this condition during active duty. The VA examiner also noted the absence of contemporaneous medical records showing evaluation or treatment for the claimed conditions.,Service connection for left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome is denied for similar reasons as right knee, with no STRs indicating treatment or complaints related to this condition during active duty and no diagnostic testing performed by the VA examiner.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's STRs do not show any evidence of degenerative arthritis, myocardial infarction, psychiatric disability, hypertension, low back disability, right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome, or left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome during service. The post-service medical records are also silent on these conditions.,The Veteran's STRs do not show any heart problems related to his active duty service. His current diagnosis of myocardial infarction is not linked to service and there is no indication that it occurred within a year after discharge from reserve duty.,There were no in-service stressors verified by VA, and the Veteran's STRs are silent on any psychiatric disability. The post-service medical records do not link his current PTSD diagnosis to service.,The Veteran's STRs do not show any evidence of hypertension during active duty or within a year after discharge from reserve duty. Post-service medical records also lack any reference to this condition, and there is no indication that it is related to service.,The VA examiner did not consider the Veteran's STRs showing back pain following a motor vehicle accident in service, nor did they perform diagnostic testing on the lower back disability.,There are no STRs indicating treatment or complaints related to right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome during active duty. The VA examiner also noted the absence of contemporaneous medical records showing evaluation or treatment for this condition.,There are no STRs indicating treatment or complaints related to left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome during active duty. The VA examiner also noted the absence of contemporaneous medical records showing evaluation or treatment for this condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Arthritis, Myocardial Infarction, Psychiatric Disorder (to include PTSD), Hypertension, Low Back Disability, Right Knee Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome, Left Knee Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 4, 2022
- Citation
- 22006509
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 22006509.
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The Board has restored the Veteran's 10% rating for hypertension effective December 1, 2025 and denied a rating in excess of 10%. The reduction from 10% to noncompensable was not proper.
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