Mitchell v. Shinseki
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
25 Vet. App. 32 (2011)

- Written by Sarah Hoffman, JD
Facts
Tyra Mitchell (plaintiff) served in the US Navy and later in the Air Force Reserves. During a period of inactive duty for training just before serving in the Air Force Reserves, Mitchell tore a knee ligament and underwent surgery. Mitchell filed a claim for service-connected disability for the knee. A Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) (defendant) examiner found pain through a significant portion of Mitchell’s available range of motion but found that the range of motion was not significantly limited by the pain. The VA regional office granted Mitchell’s claim and gave a 10 percent disability rating based on a finding of degenerative arthritis in the knee. The VA regional office did not find that Mitchell had a disability, based on the limits to Mitchell’s knee’s range of motion. Mitchell appealed to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, which denied Mitchell’s claim for a greater than 10 percent disability rating. Mitchell appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Schoelen, J.)
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