The veteran's appeal has been dismissed due to his death. The claims for reopening service connection and the issues of PTSD and neck/cervical spine condition are not before the Board.
The deciding factor: The veteran died during the pendency of the appeal, thus the Board does not have jurisdiction over the merits of the case.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral shoulder condition, low back condition
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 31, 2002
- Citation
- 0215363
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 0215363.
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a low back condition, finding that the Veteran's current disability had its clinical onset during his active duty service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted the petition to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for a bilateral shoulder condition, but denied petitions to reopen claims for residuals of heat exhaustion, any dysfunction regulating body temperature, and a right ankle condition. The Board also remanded claims for bruxism and a bilateral shoulder condition.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and other benefits, finding that the evidence did not support higher ratings or additional compensation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of a low back condition to obtain an adequate medical opinion, as the presumption of soundness has not been rebutted.
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