The Veteran withdrew his appeal for all issues on the same day he submitted a withdrawal of appeal, effectively dismissing all claims.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his appeals in November 2017, which is considered as an effective withdrawal under VA regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracic aortic aneurysm, gout (claimed as rheumatoid arthritis), a sleep disorder to include obstructive sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19129934
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,858 · Granted: 24% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19129934.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 remands the claim for further development to verify the Veteran's dates of service and obtain an addendum medical opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection due to a duty to assist error, requiring adequate medical nexus opinions.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for thoracic aortic aneurysm disability and for an initial compensable rating for hypertension disability. The Board found that there was no evidence of a causal relationship between the disabilities and the Veteran's service, including presumed herbicide exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence regarding the nature and etiology of his thoracic aortic aneurysm, heart condition (claimed as ischemic heart disease), and respiratory condition. The VA is directed to obtain medical records from non-VA providers and provide the Veteran with a comprehensive examination to address these issues.
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