The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date than January 10, 2008, for a grant of service connection for pericarditis is dismissed as it cannot be collaterally attacked by filing a freestanding earlier effective date claim.
The deciding factor: The July 2004 rating decision denying the Veteran's request to reopen his previously denied service connection claim for pericarditis is final and cannot be challenged by filing a freestanding earlier effective date claim.
- Claimed conditions
- pericarditis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 30, 2020
- Citation
- 20030588
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 20030588.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for pericarditis, finding that there is no current diagnosis of this condition and noting that the Veteran did not present any signs or symptoms qualifying as an undiagnosed illness or a medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness under Persian Gulf War presumptive provisions.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a heart disability, finding that the Veteran's conditions are not related to his military service.
- Granted
The Board granted the restoration of a 100 percent evaluation for pericarditis and special monthly compensation based on housebound criteria, effective November 1, 2024.
- Dismissed
The appeal of the October 2022 rating decision finding no new and relevant evidence to readjudicate the claim for service connection for myocardial infarction, myocarditis, and pericarditis was dismissed as procedurally defective.
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