The Veteran's combined disability ratings for service-connected disabilities are higher than the rate payable for nonservice-connection pension, making the claim for nonservice-connected pension benefits moot and dismissed.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service-connected disabilities provide a greater benefit than the nonservice-connected pension.
- Claimed conditions
- obstructive sleep apnea, anxiety disorder, bilateral knee disability, bilateral shoulder disability, back disability, bilateral lower extremity disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2020
- Citation
- 20070149
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for a back disability due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding VA's failure to provide the Veteran with a VA examination prior to the rating decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the service connection claim for a bilateral knee disability to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error, including scheduling an additional VA examination.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.