The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection of right and left ankle disabilities, as well as a left knee disability claimed as secondary to a service-connected condition. The evidence does not support finding that these conditions began during active service or are otherwise related to service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no nexus between the current bilateral ankle and left knee disabilities and service, attributing them to valgus deformity of the ankles which induced degenerative changes over time.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Ankle Disability, Left Ankle Disability, Left Knee Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 9, 2026
- Citation
- A26011769
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 A26011769.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected knee disabilities are rated at 10% each, and the Board finds that higher ratings are not warranted based on the evidence of record.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral knee disabilities are not related to his active service, and thus denied both claims for service connection.
- Denied
The Veteran's left knee disability is currently rated at 30 percent, and the Board finds no evidence of clear and unmistakable error in assigning an effective date of June 19, 2002.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his low back, left knee, and right knee disabilities due to inadequate VA examinations. The AOJ is instructed to obtain private treatment records from Mays & Schnapp Pain Management and schedule the Veteran for additional medical examinations.
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