The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings were dismissed due to his withdrawal of the appeal, and he was granted a 70 percent rating for bilateral total hip replacements effective from November 1, 2006. Other claims were denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the increased ratings for bilateral great toe status post bunionectomy with residual scar before the Board could review it. The RO granted him a separate rating of 20 percent for left knee semilunar cartilage tear associated with left knee DJD effective from October 25, 2012.
- Claimed conditions
- left great toe status post bunionectomy with residual scar, right great toe status post bunionectomy with residual scar, left knee semilunar cartilage tear associated with left knee degenerative joint disease (DJD), right total hip replacement, left total hip replacement
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- April 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19130644
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 service connection for right total hip replacement, to include as secondary to bilateral knee disabilities, for readjudication based on new and relevant evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development and adjudication by the AOJ.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed all the claims as the Appellant opted into the modernized review system (AMA) and selected the Higher Level Review lane, thus terminating the adjudication of her appeals in the legacy system.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for hepatitis C, liver cancer, portal vein thrombosis, and left total hip replacement due to procedural issues related to substitution as a claimant.
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