The Board granted an effective date of May 11, 2023, for the award of service connection for bilateral knee disabilities and residual scars.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claims met the criteria for an effective date based on his intent to file a claim consistent with VA regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee recurrent patellar dislocation with degenerative arthritis, left knee recurrent patellar dislocation with degenerative arthritis, right knee status post total knee replacement (TKA), left knee status post TKA, right knee residual scars, left knee residual scars
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 14, 2025
- Citation
- A25023834
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claims for higher ratings and entitlement to TDIU due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors in the September 2021 examinations.
- Denied
The Board denied a compensable rating for the Veteran's left knee residual scars as they were not found to result in any disabling effects.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities result in the need for regular aid and attendance, thus granting special monthly compensation (SMC) based on aid and attendance status.
- Partly granted
The veteran's claim for a compensable rating for right knee residual scars and an earlier effective date for right knee instability was denied. The appeal for a higher rating for left knee replacement was dismissed. The claims for higher ratings for right knee instability and right knee strain with arthritis were remanded.
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