The Board dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection for degenerative joint and disc disease of the lumbar spine and cervical spine due to his death.
The deciding factor: The Veteran passed away during the pendency of the appeal, making it impossible for the Board to adjudicate the merits of the claim.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative joint and disc disease, lumbar spine, degenerative joint and disc disease, cervical spine
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 27, 2020
- Citation
- 20069506
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 denied service connection for multiple conditions, including cervical spine, chronic fatigue, and various nerve damages, as the evidence did not support a finding of a current disability related to in-service events.
- Granted
The veteran was granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to his service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
The Board granted a 10 percent disability rating for the Veteran's service-connected cervical spine, finding that there was functional loss due to pain causing additional disability beyond that reflected on range of motion measurements.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right knee strain, left knee strain, lumbar radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, and lumbar radiculopathy of the left lower extremity. It also granted initial ratings for various disabilities including a 20 percent rating for lumbar degenerative disc disease with intervertebral disc syndrome, spondylosis, and spondylolisthesis, a 30 percent rating for labral tear, including superior labral anterior-posterior lesion, status post surgical repair, and higher ratings for other conditions.
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