The Veteran's appeal regarding vocational rehabilitation and education services has been dismissed due to his death. The issues of compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for hepatitis C have also become moot as the Veteran died during the appeal process.
The deciding factor: The Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal, which resulted in a lack of jurisdiction over the merits of his claims.
- Claimed conditions
- right shoulder degenerative joint disease (DJD)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19166767
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,249 · Granted: 37% (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 19166767.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 service connection due to insufficient rationale in the June 2019 VA opinions. The AOJ is instructed to obtain an addendum opinion from a qualified individual to address whether the Veteran's left and right shoulder, and bilateral elbow conditions are related to his military service, specifically including exposure to hazardous materials while serving in the Southwest Asia theater of operations.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for hypertension and tinnitus, but denied service connection for a left wrist condition, chronic fatigue syndrome, dry mouth, and a skin condition. Several claims were remanded for further development.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, finding that it is at least as likely as not related to the Veteran's service-connected right shoulder and right ankle conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding right shoulder DJD during flare-ups, requiring a new examination.
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