The Board dismissed the appeals for service connection for various conditions including loss of muscle mass, degenerative joint disease, blood disorder, respiratory disorder, gastrointestinal disorder, and acquired psychiatric disorders all claimed as resulting from exposure to ionizing radiation. The decision was made due to the death of the appellant.
The deciding factor: The appeal was dismissed because the appellant died during the pendency of the appeal.
- Claimed conditions
- loss of muscle mass, degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine, blood disorder to include anemia, respiratory disorder to include emphysema and chronic obstructive disorder (COPD), gastrointestinal disorder to include dysphagia and gastroesophageal reflex disorder, acquired psychiatric disorder to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major neurocognitive disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2020
- Citation
- 20003428
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,429 · Granted: 29% (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 20003428.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's lumbar spine arthritis is aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete development of records and will provide a supplemental statement of the case if necessary.
- Granted
The Veteran's low back disability was rated at 40% prior to September 28, 2018. From that date, the rating was increased to 50%. The earlier effective date for TDIU is denied.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for a higher level of SMC was denied as he does not meet the criteria for any additional levels of SMC based on his service-connected disabilities.
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