The Board denied an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death, finding that the earliest date is January 27, 2020, when the Appellant submitted a supplemental claim. The decision was based on the fact that the August 2017 denial became final and no new evidence or claims were received within one year.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the effective date cannot be earlier than the date of the reopened claim due to legal constraints, despite the Appellant's arguments for an earlier effective date based on previously dated records.
- Claimed conditions
- Dementia with Lewy bodies, Ischemic heart disease
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 26, 2020
- Citation
- A20015976
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (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 A20015976.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an initial rating of 30 percent prior to July 18, 2014, and a higher than 60 percent rating thereafter for ischemic heart disease is being remanded due to incomplete evidence. The examiner needs to provide more detailed information about the severity of his service-connected condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for an earlier effective date and increased rating for ischemic heart disease due to a failure by the AOJ to request SSA records, which were not available.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for ischemic heart disease and myocardial infarction, status post stent placement, as well as obstructive sleep apnea, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for ischemic heart disease as there was no evidence of herbicide exposure and the Veteran's condition is not related to his military service.
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