Citation Nr: 21001182
Decision Date: 01/07/21	Archive Date: 01/07/21

DOCKET NO. 14-24 163
DATE: January 7, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction (ED) is dismissed. 

FINDING OF FACT

The appealed claim of service connection for ED was granted in a September 2020 rating decision

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The appealed claim of service connection for ED is dismissed. 38 U.S.C.A. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 20.201. 

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran had active service from January 1969 to January 1970. 

In pertinent part, the claim for service connection for ED was remanded by the Board in July 2020. The agency of jurisdiction was directed to provide the Veteran with a VA examination. That development was accomplished. 

By a rating action dated September 2020, entitlement to service connection for ED was granted, which fully satisfied the appealed claim. There is thus no remaining disagreement with any determination of fact or law as to that claim, and thus no case in controversy for appellate consideration. 38 C.F.R. § 20.101. The appeal of the claim of entitlement to service connection for ED must be dismissed.

The Board notes that a September 2020 supplemental statement of case, which was issued contemporaneous to the September 2020 decision, addressed the issue of entitlement to an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for ED. A November 2020 Informal Hearing Presentation also addressed the effective date assigned for the Veteran’s ED. However, the Veteran has not appealed this decision by submitting a Notice of Disagreement (NOD) (VA Form 10182). See 38 C.F.R. § 20.202. 

Where an appealed claim for service connection is granted during the pendency of the appeal, a second NOD must be timely filed to initiate appellate review of "downstream" issues such as the rating assigned for the disability or the effective date of service connection. See Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156, 1158-59 (Fed. Cir. 1997). The Board thereby does not have jurisdiction of the issue of entitlement to an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for ED. See 38 U.S.C. § 7105. However, the Veteran still has ample time to pursue an appeal by filing an NOD.  

 

MICHAEL A. HERMAN

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	S. Smith, Associate Counsel 

The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.