The Veteran's appeal for service connection for an upper back disability was dismissed due to his withdrawal of the claim. The Board also remanded the issue of service connection for a skin rash.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his claim for service connection for an upper back disability during his October 2019 hearing, and the Board found that there were no allegations of error in the determination being appealed.
- Claimed conditions
- upper back disability, skin rash
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2020
- Citation
- 20000523
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,084 · Granted: 20% (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 20000523.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for various conditions, including sleep apnea, lower back disability, upper back disability, bilateral foot disability, tinnitus, and bilateral knee disability. The Board found that there was no evidence to support a direct link between these conditions and active service.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's skin rash is not service-connected, but his temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is service-connected. The TMD was found to be related to a dental procedure during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to errors in duty to assist and other procedural issues.,Specifically, the AOJ failed to consider whether the Veteran was entitled to presumptions of soundness or aggravation regarding his skin rash condition.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for PFB, hypertension, and right knee degenerative arthritis. The claims for left shoulder disability and skin rash have been denied.
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