The Board granted service connection for a left knee disability, right knee disability on a secondary basis, obstructive sleep apnea on a secondary basis, psychiatric disorder on a secondary basis, diabetes mellitus type 2 (diabetes) on a secondary basis, and hypertension on a secondary basis.

The deciding factor: The Veteran's current disabilities are proximately related to his service-connected bilateral knee disability due to the chronic pain and inactivity resulting from the knee conditions leading to obesity, which then caused or aggravated the other claimed conditions.

Claimed conditions

left knee disability, right knee disability, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), psychiatric disorder, diabetes mellitus type 2 (diabetes), hypertension, lung disability, to include asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and breathing issues

How they argued it

Secondary to another service-connected condition

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

None in this decision

Decision date

November 5, 2025

Citation

A25096529

Want to see how appeals like this one tend to go? Appeals like mine