The appeals for service connection of various foot and shoulder conditions have been dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The Veteran died during the pendency of the appeal, which resulted in the dismissal of all related claims.
- Claimed conditions
- right shoulder osteoarthritis (dominant), degenerative arthritis of the left leg, degenerative arthritis of the right leg, left foot hammertoe, right foot hammertoe
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 25, 2026
- Citation
- A26026613
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 A26026613.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 granted service connection for the veteran's right ankle condition as secondary to other service-connected conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for a left knee condition, secondary to multiple service-connected disabilities including right foot heel spur, right foot post bunionectomy, right foot hammertoe, left foot heel spur, left great toe post bunionectomy with hallux valgus and degenerative joint disease, left foot hammertoe, right hip bursitis, and left hip trochanteric bursitis is being remanded due to a duty to assist error.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right foot hammertoe as there is no evidence of a current disability or any link to military service.
- Denied
The Board denied a temporary total rating for right foot surgery due to service-connected conditions, finding that the surgery was not related to a service-connected condition and did not require at least one month of convalescence.
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