The Veteran seeks an effective date earlier than March 21, 2024 for the award of service connection for bilateral knee gout. The Board finds that entitlement to such a rating did not arise until March 21, 2024 when a current disability was first established.,The Veteran also seeks increased initial ratings in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected left and right knee gout. The Board denied these claims as the evidence does not support higher evaluations based on the degree to which motion is actually limited.
The deciding factor: The effective date of an award of service connection is determined by when all elements of service connection, including a current disability, are first met. In this case, the earliest competent medical evidence identifying gout affecting either knee was from March 21, 2024.
- Claimed conditions
- left knee gout, right knee gout
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 24, 2026
- Citation
- A26016599
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 A26016599.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for various service connection and rating decisions related to gout affecting multiple joints, left foot gout, right foot gout, elbow pronation and supination gout, elbow limitation of flexion gout, thumb gout, index finger gout, long finger gout, ring and little finger gout, middle finger gout, ankle gout, knee gout, and right thumb gout. The effective dates for these decisions were not earlier than the specified dates.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for urinary frequency, as secondary to hypertension and non-service-connected diabetes mellitus type II. The other claims are remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for left ankle gout, right ankle gout, left knee gout, left wrist gout, and right wrist gout. The Veteran's claim for right knee gout was incorporated into an already service-connected right knee disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and remanded the remaining issues due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
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