The Veteran's appeal is dismissed due to his death prior to a final decision. The Board cannot consider the merits of the case as he has passed away.
The deciding factor: The Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal, making it impossible for the Board to make a final determination on the claims.
- Claimed conditions
- congestive heart failure, cor pulmonale, pulmonary hypertension
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20004338
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and bilateral vision condition was dismissed. Service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a heart condition to obtain an addendum opinion from a VA clinician regarding whether the Veteran's current heart condition is related to service, including in-service treatment for hypertension.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding no evidence that the Veteran was exposed to herbicides during his service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for pulmonary hypertension as secondary to the Veteran's already service-connected idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.