The Board has dismissed all claims for increased ratings and earlier effective dates due to the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal, thus the Board lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the case.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracolumbar spine injury, arachnoiditis with residuals of the right upper extremity, arachnoiditis with residuals of the left upper extremity, arachnoiditis with residuals of the right lower extremity, arachnoiditis with residuals of the left lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 25, 2020
- Citation
- 20074705
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,429 · 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 20074705.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for sleep apnea, thoracolumbar spine injury, migraines, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) to allow for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence regarding the dates of his periods of active duty and inactive duty training, as well as the exact date of a motor vehicle accident in 1988. The Veteran is also required to provide legible versions of military pay vouchers and obtain authorization from VA to release private medical records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 30 percent for CAD is denied. An effective date of June 20, 2012 for the grant of service connection for CAD is granted.,The issues related to thoracolumbar spine injury, arachnoiditis with residuals of upper and lower extremities are remanded due to their inextricable link to CUE claims and earlier effective date claims.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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