The Board's decision to grant service connection for kidney disease and deny a rating greater than 50 percent for a psychiatric disorder was vacated due to the death of the appellant before the decision could be implemented.
The deciding factor: The Board lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the claims after the surviving spouse died in August 2021, as they were for accrued benefits purposes.
- Claimed conditions
- kidney disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 4, 2025
- Citation
- A25104362
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 785 · Granted: 47% (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 A25104362.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 decided to remand the Veteran's claims for heart disease, hypertension, kidney disease, and low back pain due to potential errors in duty to assist. The AOJ is required to verify the Veteran's alleged exposure to herbicide agents and obtain private treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease are being remanded due to the need for VA examinations to determine if these conditions are related to his exposure to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune during service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for diabetes mellitus type II, hypertension, and kidney disease, finding that these conditions are related to the Veteran's exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. The decision also remanded the issue of service connection for obstructive sleep apnea.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's hypertension, kidney disease, prostate cancer, and non-hodgkin's lymphoma are granted as service-connected.,The Veteran's psychiatric condition is remanded for a determination on whether it is caused or aggravated by his service-connected disabilities.
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