The appeal was dismissed due to a procedural defect related to the submission of the Notice of Disagreement by the Claimant prior to approval of her request for substitution as claimant following the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The January 2025 VA Form 10182 was not valid because it was submitted before the Claimant's request for substitution was approved, and an appeal cannot be properly initiated until after such a determination is made.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with pulmonary emboli, status post complication of cryosurgery, sciatic peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity, femoral nerve peripheral neuropathy, left lower extremity, femoral nerve peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity, sciatic peripheral neuropathy, left lower extremity, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with unspecified neurocognitive disorder
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 17, 2025
- Citation
- A25109165
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 915 · Granted: 38% (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 A25109165.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 is granted special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the need for regular aid and attendance due to service-connected Parkinsonism, upper and lower extremity disorders associated with Parkinsonism, and PTSD with unspecified neurocognitive disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for increased ratings for diabetes mellitus and bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy to schedule VA examinations to determine the current severity of these disabilities.
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