The Board has dismissed the claims for service connection due to the appellant's death.
The deciding factor: The appellant passed away during the pendency of the appeal, and as a result, the Board does not have jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the appeal.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine, left knee
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20072035
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 Veteran's service-connected left knee and right shoulder disabilities, along with compensation benefits awarded under 38 USC § 1151 for a right bicep detachment during shoulder surgery, prevented him from securing or following substantially gainful employment from December 22, 2011 to December 11, 2016.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for allergic rhinitis and remanded the other claims for further development.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the claims for earlier effective dates and higher ratings for various conditions, including left eye condition, right eye condition, hypertension, left knee, right knee, obstructive sleep apnea, and coronary artery disease (CAD), as well as denied an earlier effective date for CAD.
- Dismissed
The motion to revise or reverse on the basis of clear and unmistakable error (CUE) was dismissed without prejudice to refiling.
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