The Veteran's appeal was dismissed due to their death, and no service connection decision could be made.
The deciding factor: The Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal, making it impossible for the Board to make a service connection determination.
- Claimed conditions
- arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, status-post aortic valve replacement, one vessel coronary artery bypass graft
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 28, 2019
- Citation
- 19166870
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,170 · 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 19166870.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 remanded the case to obtain missing medical records and a new medical opinion regarding the Veteran's cause of death.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal has been dismissed due to their death during the pendency of the appeal. No one has requested substitution for the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for an effective date prior to March 16, 2021 for service connection of arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease and ratings for amputation of middle or lower thirds of the right leg and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The TDIU claim is also remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's death was due to severe occlusive coronary artery disease, which is presumed to be caused by exposure to herbicide agents. The appellant filed a claim for DIC benefits within one year of the Veteran's death and was found eligible as a Nehmer class member. However, her remarriage in 2014 rendered her ineligible for recognition as the surviving spouse from that date onwards.
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