The appeals for increased ratings have been dismissed due to the appellant's death.
The deciding factor: The appellant died during the pendency of the appeal, making it impossible to adjudicate the merits of the claims.
- Claimed conditions
- Traumatic arthritis of the right knee, Arthritis of the lumbosacral spine, Total left knee replacement with repair of ruptured patellar tendon
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20072140
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,948 · Granted: 29% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 20072140.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted ratings for his left and right knee disabilities, as well as special monthly compensation and TDIU.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings and service connection were dismissed. The Board found that the Veteran withdrew his appeal of the issues related to traumatic arthritis of the right knee and post-operative ligament injury of the right knee at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. New and material evidence was received to reopen claims of bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and left knee disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate medical opinions and non-compliance with previous remand directives. The claim is being returned for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims for service connection for arthritis of the lumbosacral spine, bilateral knee disability, and bilateral ankle disability. However, these issues are being remanded due to the need for additional examinations and development.
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