The Veteran's appeal was dismissed due to his death, and no rating decision or service connection determination could be made.
The deciding factor: The Veteran died during the pendency of his appeal, which resulted in the Board having no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of his claim.
- Claimed conditions
- postoperative residuals of a left ankle fracture with traumatic arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 3, 2015
- Citation
- 1509179
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 1509179.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including scheduling a VA examination to evaluate his service-connected left ankle disability and obtaining updated VA treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for his service-connected left ankle disorder is being remanded due to the need for a new VA examination and consideration of higher DCs.
- Granted
The Board has granted a 20 percent rating for the veteran's service-connected postoperative residuals of a left ankle fracture with traumatic arthritis, finding that his disability is manifested by malunion of the fibula with marked ankle disability.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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