The Board granted earlier effective dates for the award of service connection for bilateral knee disabilities and scars, as well as DEA benefits based on permanent and total disability status.
The deciding factor: The lay statement submitted by the Veteran's spouse on November 30, 2010, was found to be an informal claim evidencing a belief in entitlement to a benefit, specifically that the Veteran's bilateral knee disabilities were secondary to his service-connected back disability.
- Claimed conditions
- status post right total knee replacement, status post total knee replacement due to osteoarthritis left knee, scar, right knee status post knee replacement, scar, left knee status post knee replacement
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2024
- Citation
- 24033140
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, considering that his service-connected orthopedic disabilities and major depressive disorder contributed substantially to his death.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal for initial increased ratings for thoracolumbar spine arthritis, cervical spine arthritis, bilateral lower extremity femoral radiculopathy, and a scar.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for the veteran's right and left knee disorders, but granted a 10 percent rating for painful left anterior knee scars.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matters of an initial compensable rating for hemorrhoid and service connection for a scar, to include as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected hemorrhoid disability due to inadequate VA examination and missing medical records.
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