The Board granted service connection for a right lower extremity disability and left lower extremity disability, both characterized by sciatic-type pain, as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected back disability. The Board also granted an initial 10 percent rating for right knee disability (based on limitation of extension) and a separate 10 percent rating for right knee instability.
The deciding factor: The evidence supports that the Veteran's lower extremity disabilities are proximately due to her service-connected back disability, and there is functional impairment as a result of this secondary condition. The Board also found that the Veteran's right knee symptoms reflect slight instability or recurrent subluxation throughout the appeal period.
- Claimed conditions
- right lower extremity disability, characterized by sciatic-type pain, left lower extremity disability, characterized by sciatic-type pain, right knee disability (based on limitation of extension), right knee instability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- March 28, 2025
- Citation
- A25029133
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.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal for service connection for bilateral knee instability and denied service connection for right and left knee instability, finding no nexus between the Veteran's knee conditions and his service or service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issues of entitlement to increased ratings for a thoracolumbar spine disorder and bilateral knee disorders due to the need for additional VA examinations.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an increased rating for right knee strain and instability but granted a separate 10 percent rating for right knee limitation of extension from November 25, 2024.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including left foot condition, right foot condition, cellulitis, right ear hearing loss, and right lower extremity radiculopathy. The appeal of the proposal to reduce a 40 percent evaluation for lumbosacral strain was dismissed.
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