The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of a right knee disorder as secondary to his service-connected left knee disabilities. The evidence does not support a finding that the current right knee strain is proximately due to or aggravated by his service-connected left knee disabilities.,The issue of service connection for sleep apnea, which was remanded, remains pending and will be addressed in further development.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinions provided conflicting conclusions regarding whether the Veteran's right knee disorder was secondary to his service-connected left knee disability. The Board found that the January 2023 VA examiner's opinion, based on a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, was more probative and concluded that the condition of the right knee was not negatively affected by the condition of the left knee.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Knee Strain, Degenerative Arthritis of Right Knee
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 9, 2023
- Citation
- 23060531
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 23060531.
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 Board remands the claims for further development and to ensure compliance with VA's duty to assist.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 70 percent rating for PTSD, denied ratings in excess of 30 percent for left and right knee strains, granted separate 10 percent ratings for painful, noncompensable limitation of flexion of the knees, granted service connection for back condition and related radiculopathies, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and a right shoulder condition.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's PTSD was granted a 50 percent evaluation effective March 27, 2024. The claims for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the right hand, left ankle strain, and right knee strain were remanded.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's PTSD was granted an increased rating of 50 percent from July 28, 2023. Other claims for increased ratings were denied.
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