The appeal regarding entitlement to service connection for various conditions was dismissed due to an improper concurrent election of review options.
The deciding factor: The August 2021 Notice of Disagreement (VA Form 10182) did not constitute a proper appeal as it was an improper concurrent election with other review requests.
- Claimed conditions
- brain disease due to trauma (head trauma ache also claimed as TBI), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep apnea, headache disorder, to include migraine headaches, low back pain, paralysis of the sciatic nerve (left side leg numbness), left side leg numbness, left side arm numbness, left hand, loss of feeling, stomach injury (stomach pain), tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 1, 2025
- Citation
- A25056826
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent initial disability rating for PTSD effective December 2, 2021, but the claim for an increased rating in excess of 70 percent was denied. The appeal also included claims for service connection and ratings for various conditions, some of which were granted while others were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for tinnitus to correct a duty to assist error, as the Veteran's lay statements regarding onset and continuity of symptoms were not adequately considered in the previous decision.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
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