The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection and evaluations related to his cervical strain, right elbow injury (claimed as cubital tunnel syndrome), right shoulder condition, and non-painful surgical scar on the grounds that he had already submitted a duplicate appeal request.
The deciding factor: The Veteran submitted two identical VA Form 10182 appeals within one year of each other, violating the prohibition against concurrent or duplicate elections under VA regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical strain, right cubital tunnel syndrome status post neuroplasty (claimed as elbow injury), right shoulder acromioclavicular degenerative joint disease, right shoulder rotator cuff supraspinatus, and infraspinatus tears, non-painful surgical scar, right shoulder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 16, 2026
- Citation
- A26023385
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 A26023385.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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's service connection claims for various conditions were granted effective from July 1, 2020.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection were dismissed due to a procedural defect in filing the claims on the correct form.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for migraine headaches and cervical strain due to a duty to assist error. The AOJ failed to obtain VA medical opinions addressing the etiology of these disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied an earlier effective date for service connection of chronic neck pain and cervical strain, finding that the Veteran did not file a claim for these conditions until June 28, 2013.
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