Citation Nr: 20031920 Decision Date: 05/06/20 Archive Date: 05/06/20 DOCKET NO. 19-08 473 DATE: May 6, 2020 ORDER Entitlement to an effective date prior to April 21, 2009, for the award of service connection for left knee instability is denied. Entitlement to an effective date prior to April 21, 2009, for the award of service connection for left knee degenerative joint disease (DJD) status post total knee replacement is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran filed a claim for service connection for a left knee disability on April 21, 2009, and the record contains no evidence of a formal or an informal claim for such disability prior to April 21, 2009. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 2. The criteria for the assignment of an effective date earlier than April 21, 2009, for the award of service connection for left knee instability have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5101, 5107, 5110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.155, 3.400(b)(2). 3. The criteria for the assignment of an effective date earlier than April 21, 2009, for the award of service connection for left knee degenerative joint disease (DJD) status post total knee replacement have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5101, 5107, 5110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.155, 3.400(b)(2). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served honorably in the U.S. Army from July 1966 to July 1969. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2015 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). The Veteran’s Form 9 indicates that he did not request a Board hearing. Effective Date Entitlement to an effective date prior to April 21, 2009, for the award of service connection for a left knee disability, to include slight instability and degenerative joint disease (DJD) status post total knee replacement, is denied. The Veteran contends that his service-connected left knee disability warrants an effective date prior to April 21, 2009. Specifically, he seeks an effective date of the date of his separation from service, July 25, 1969, as the onset of his current left knee disability occurred prior to his separation from service. A December 2015 rating decision granted service connection for the Veteran’s left knee disability and awarded a 10 percent evaluation for degenerative arthritis and a separate 10 percent evaluation for instability, both effective April 21, 2009, the date VA received the Veteran’s left knee service connection claim. The effective date for the grant of service connection shall generally be the day following separation from active service or the date entitlement arose if the claim is received within one year of separation from service; otherwise, the effective date shall be the date of receipt of the claim, or the date the entitlement arose, whichever is later. See 38 U.S.C. § 5110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.400(b)(2)(i). When determining when the entitlement arose, an effective date for benefits can be no earlier than the date the disability at issue first manifested. See DeLisio v. Shinseki, 25 Vet. App. 45, 52 (2011). VA has recognized both formal and informal claims, which, under certain requirements, may consist of a formal or informal communication in writing requesting a determination of entitlement or evidencing a belief in entitlement to a benefit. See 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.1(p), 3.157(b)(1) (in force prior to March 24, 2015). However, the mere presence of medical evidence of a disability does not establish intent on the part of the claimant to seek service connection for a disability, see Lalonde v. West, 12 Vet. App. 377, 382 (1999), and a medical examination report may only constitute an informal claim for an increased evaluation if service connection has already been established for the disability at issue. See MacPhee, 459 F.3d at 1327. In this case, because the Veteran’s service connection claim for a left knee disability was received by VA on April 21, 2009, the Veteran has been awarded an effective date of April 21, 2009, which is the earliest effective date possible pursuant to law. See 38 U.S.C. § 5110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.400(b)(2)(i). The Veteran does not contend, and a thorough review of the claims file does not reveal, that he submitted a formal or informal claim for service connection for his knee prior to April 21, 2009. (Continued on the next page)   Accordingly, given that the Veteran has been granted the earliest date possible for the award of service connection for his left knee disability, the Board finds that a preponderance of the evidence of record weighs against a finding that an effective date earlier than April 21, 2009, is warranted in this case; therefore, the benefit of the doubt doctrine does not apply, and the Veteran’s claim for an earlier effective date for his service-connected left knee disability, to include slight instability and degenerative joint disease (DJD) status post total knee replacement, must be denied. See Alemany v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 518, 519-20 (1996). H. SEESEL Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board H. Marsdale The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.