The Board has determined that there is no legal basis for the appellant to seek an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death and eligibility to DEA. The appeal is dismissed.
The deciding factor: There was no timely notice of disagreement filed within one year from the January 1997 rating decision, which became final due to the lack of a valid claim prior to December 1996.
- Claimed conditions
- cause of the Veteran's death
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- November 24, 2009
- Citation
- 0944678
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0944678.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death as new and relevant evidence was not received.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death to be readjudicated based on new and relevant evidence.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board of Veterans' Appeals is remanding the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death due to an error by the agency of original jurisdiction in failing to provide notice of the right to a pre-decisional hearing.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for astrocytoma glioblastoma of the brain and the cause of the Veteran's death was dismissed due to a procedural defect in the modernized review system.
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