The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for paraplegia with loss of bowel and bladder functions is dismissed due to finality rules.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's claim was a freestanding earlier effective date claim, which violates the rule of finality as established in Rudd v. Nicholson.
- Claimed conditions
- paraplegia, loss of bowel function, loss of bladder function
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 21, 2021
- Citation
- A21020368
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 A21020368.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 Board denied service connection for loss of bowel and bladder function but granted a 60% rating for right and left lower extremity sciatic peripheral neuropathy, and a 50% rating for right upper extremity polyneuropathy, effective from March 18, 2023.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for neurogenic bowel, bladder, and paraplegia as secondary to her service-connected lumbar strain. The AOJ must obtain additional opinions addressing whether these conditions are aggravated by the service-connected condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death, including gram negative bacteremia, paraplegia, tracheostomy or intracerebral hemorrhage is related to his service-connected migraine headaches condition. The matter is REMANDED for further action.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for paraplegia as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected renal cell carcinoma.
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