The Veteran's claims for service connection have been dismissed due to his death.
The deciding factor: The Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal, and therefore the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the claims.
- Claimed conditions
- ataxia, bilateral lower extremities, bilateral upper extremities, cervical dystonia, excessive somnolence, autoimmune encephalitis, frontal and subcortical deficits, eyesight loss
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 26, 2021
- Citation
- 21004086
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 21004086.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral upper and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy and ataxia due to inadequate VA medical opinions. The claims are being returned for further examination and opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to a failure to obtain an opinion from a VA examiner regarding the Veteran's disabilities and their relation to carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment or similar instance of fault on the part of VA.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for aphasia, ataxia, benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), and right knee condition to obtain additional medical opinions.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection of cervical dystonia was dismissed because the veteran passed away during the pendency of the appeal. The dismissal does not affect the right of an eligible person to take the Veteran's place to continue the appeal on the pending claims.
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