The Veteran's appeal for increased ratings for diabetes mellitus, type 2, with diabetic neuropathy was dismissed due to the death of the appellant before a decision could be made.
The deciding factor: The appellant died during the pendency of the appeal and thus the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the appeal.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, type 2, diabetic neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19184040
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,699 · Granted: 17% (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 19184040.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.
- Denied
The Board has vacated the January 2026 decision granting service connection for diabetes mellitus, type 2 due to fraudulent evidence. The Veteran's claim is denied as there is no credible evidence linking his diabetes to service or a service-connected condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's TDIU claim is remanded due to insufficient examination addressing all aspects of his service-connected diabetes mellitus, including diabetic neuropathy.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities, finding that his service-connected conditions do not preclude him from securing or following substantially gainful employment.
- Granted
The Board found that the appellant is eligible to receive fees from past due benefits awarded in the portion of the June 2024 rating decision granting higher ratings for bilateral upper and lower extremity diabetic neuropathy. The appeal was denied regarding eligibility for fees related to a chest scar rating.
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