The appeal is dismissed because the appellant died during the pendency of his appeal, and therefore the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this case.
The deciding factor: Due to the death of the appellant, the Board had no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the appeal.
- Claimed conditions
- renal cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 20, 2020
- Citation
- 20074679
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 the Veteran's claim for service connection for renal cancer, finding no evidence of a nexus between the disease and his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a 10 percent initial rating for hypertension and special monthly compensation at the rate authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 1114(m), (n), and (r)(1) effective from August 10, 2022, to November 7, 2024.
- Denied
The Board denied the appellant's claim for accrued benefits based on service connection for renal cancer, as the claim that was pending at the time of the Veteran's death was not timely appealed.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for renal cancer, for purposes of accrued benefits, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran's surviving spouse.
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