Veterans’ RightsAn independent resource for veterans
← All decisions
Dismissed

The Board has dismissed the Veteran's appeals for service connection of a salivary gland condition, genitourinary condition (including benign prostatic hypertrophy), and pneumonia. Service connection was granted for hypothyroidism, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), septoplasty, uvulopalatoplasty and turbinate cauterization, and obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to service-connected vitiligo.

The deciding factor: The Veteran's conditions are found to be at least as likely as not related to his service-connected vitiligo.

Claimed conditions
gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), genitourinary condition, to include benign prostatic hypertrophy, hypothyroidism, obstructive sleep apnea, pneumonia, salivary gland condition, status post septoplasty, uvulopalatoplasty and turbinate cauterization
How they argued it
Secondary to another service-connected condition
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
December 6, 2019
Citation
19191762

Veterans Law Judge

RYAN T. KESSEL

Decisions by this judge: 2,199 · Granted: 25% (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 19191762.

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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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

Free starter guide for your own claim

Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.

We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.

We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.

This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.