The appeal for service connection for degenerative joint disease, lumbar spine was dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The claimant died during the pendency of the appeal, and by law, claims do not survive the appellant's death.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative joint disease, lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 23, 2025
- Citation
- A25110321
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,036 · Granted: 27% (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 A25110321.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 Board has granted service connection for degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine and dismissed the appeal regarding service connection for headaches. The proposed severance of service connection for hypertension is also dismissed as a matter of law.
- Denied
The Veteran's TDIU from April 1, 2020 is denied as the evidence does not show that his service-connected disabilities prevent him from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for chest tightness with shortness of breath, allergic rhinitis (claimed as congestion), and degenerative joint disease, lumbar spine. However, a 10 percent rating was granted for bilateral plantar fasciitis.
- Granted
The Board granted an increased initial rating of 70 percent for the Veteran's service-connected mood disorder due to known physiological condition, with major depressive-like episodes, and also granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to this condition. Additionally, TDIU was granted.
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