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Dismissed

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for her service-connected surgical scar were denied. The appeal was dismissed as the Veteran withdrew her claim for special monthly compensation based on housebound status beyond November 30, 2011.

The deciding factor: The Veteran did not meet the criteria for a compensable rating prior to February 6, 2013 and did not have scars that were deep, nonlinear, or at least 144 square inches (929 sq. cm.) or more from February 6, 2013 forward.

Claimed conditions
surgical scar
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
August 23, 2019
Citation
19165805

Veterans Law Judge

DAVID GRATZ

Decisions by this judge: 705 · Granted: 38% (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 19165805.

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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.

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