The Board has dismissed all claims for increased disability ratings as the appellant died during the appeal process.
The deciding factor: The appellant's death made it impossible to adjudicate the merits of the appeals.
- Claimed conditions
- mechanical low back pain, chronic right hip strain, chronic left hip strain, chronic right knee strain, left knee patellofemoral arthrosis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20052739
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 20052739.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the inextricability of issues regarding an effective date for SMC and TDIU. Additional development is needed, including requesting employment information from former employers.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including left knee strain post meniscectomy with degenerative arthritis and ankylosis, degenerative disc disease lumbar spine with stenosis and disc bulge, limitation of extension of the right knee, chronic right knee strain, impairment of the knee, residuals of left fractured ribs, tinnitus, hearing loss, and a scar associated with the left knee, were productive of functional impairment which precluded substantially gainful employment from January 26, 2015 through September 21, 2017.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied a TDIU under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a) prior to April 17, 2012, and remanded the issue of entitlement to a TDIU on an extraschedular basis under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(b) prior to April 17, 2012, as well as the effective date for Dependents' Educational Assistance.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic right and left hip strains, finding that these disabilities arose from the Veteran's active duty service.
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