The appeal for restoration of a 20 percent rating for an incisional hernia is dismissed. The earlier effective date claim for SMC based on loss of use of the bilateral lower extremities is denied as it does not meet the criteria.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew her appeal regarding the restoration of a 20 percent rating for an incisional hernia during the October 2017 Board hearing. The effective date claim was denied because the date of entitlement (December 21, 2012) is not earlier than the current effective date (November 15, 2012).
- Claimed conditions
- Incisional hernia, Loss of use of both feet
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- August 15, 2018
- Citation
- 18126722
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 18126722.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a higher level of SMC and SMC based on loss of use of the lower extremities due to duty-to-assist errors, lack of sufficient medical evidence, and inextricably intertwined issues.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted an effective date of June 26, 2015 for the award of service connection and SMC based on loss of use of both feet.
- Granted
The Veteran's SMC was granted at the intermediate level between 38 U.S.C. § 1114(m) and (n) due to additional disabilities including peripheral neuropathies, tinnitus, hearing loss, and lymphoma.
- Granted
The Board has granted effective dates of February 11, 2020 for service connection of loss of use of both hands and feet as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected Parkinson's disease.
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