The Veteran's appeal for a higher disability rating and an earlier effective date has been dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
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
- mastoiditis, cholesteatoma, horizontal canal fistula
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 3, 2024
- Citation
- A24063086
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,934 · Granted: 41% (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 A24063086.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea but has remanded the issue of service connection for cholesteatoma due to a duty-to-assist error.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for cholesteatoma and an acquired psychiatric disorder to include PTSD due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error in failing to provide VA examinations. The Veteran is entitled to a VA examination for both claims.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's TDIU claim is granted from May 25, 2010. The case is remanded for additional development regarding the compensable rating for bilateral cholesteatoma.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for an ear disability, diagnosed as otitis media, Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV), and mastoiditis, but denied service connection for a psychiatric disability.
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