The Board has dismissed all service connection claims as the Veteran died during the appeal process.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's death during the pendency of the appeal means that the Board lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of his claims.
- Claimed conditions
- facial chloracne skin cancer, loss of partial ear lobe, paralysis, diabetes mellitus, type II, esophageal cancer, ischemic heart disease, malignant melanoma, multiple myeloma, bilateral hearing loss, headaches, erectile dysfunction, hypertension, peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper extremities, peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities, stress/anxiety and sleep deprivation
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 14, 2020
- Citation
- 20060391
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 20060391.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
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