The Veteran's appeal for service connection for residuals of traumatic brain injury, including Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, muscle spasms, and Lewy Body dementia due to a lightning strike is dismissed because the appellant died during the pendency of the appeal.
The deciding factor: The appellant died during the pendency of the appeal, thus losing jurisdiction over the case.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of traumatic brain injury, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, muscle spasms, Lewy Body dementia
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 31, 2018
- Citation
- 18146265
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 18146265.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.
- Dismissed
The appeal seeking entitlement to service connection for Parkinson's disease was dismissed due to the Veteran's death during the pendency of the appeal.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for Parkinson's disease, which is presumed to have been incurred in active service due to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of August 25, 2016 for the award of service connection for Parkinson's disease.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for revision of a May 2019 rating decision that assigned an initial 10 percent rating for Parkinson's disease, finding no clear and unmistakable error.
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