The appeal for service connection of loss of use of bilateral lower extremities due to tetraplegia as secondary to degenerative joint disease, thoracolumbar spine is dismissed because the appellant died during the pendency of the appeal.
The deciding factor: The appellant's death resulted in the Board having no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of the appeal.
- Claimed conditions
- loss of use of bilateral lower extremities, degenerative joint disease, thoracolumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 11, 2023
- Citation
- A23035292
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 A23035292.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.
- Granted
The Veteran's need for supervision, protection, or instruction on a continuous basis due to his service-connected disabilities has been determined, granting him an increased Level 2 stipend under the PCAFC program.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings have been denied. Effective dates prior to July 27, 2023, are not warranted as the issues were not reasonably raised before that date.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for a special home adaptation grant as they do not result in anatomical loss or use of both hands, blindness in both eyes, deep partial thickness burns, full thickness or subdermal burns, or residuals of an inhalation injury.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for bladder incontinence but denied earlier effective dates and increased ratings for other conditions.
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