Citation Nr: 21065878
Decision Date: 10/27/21	Archive Date: 10/27/21

DOCKET NO. 17-20 203
DATE: October 27, 2021

ORDER

The appeal seeking entitlement to service connection for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity is dismissed as moot.

FINDING OF FACT

In a June 2021 rating decision, a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) granted service connection for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity; this is a full grant of the benefit sought on appeal.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

As there remains no case or controversy affecting the provision of benefits by VA over which the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) may exercise jurisdiction, the appeal seeking entitlement to service connection for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity is dismissed.  38 U.S.C. §§ 7104, 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 20.104.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran, who is the appellant in this case, served on active duty from January 1993 to January 1997, from April 1999 to April 2002, and from October 2003 to March 2005.

This matter comes before the Board on appeal from a February 2017 rating decision of a VA RO.  

In January 2019, the Veteran testified at a videoconference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.

By way of procedural background, in a March 2020 decision, the Board denied entitlement to service connection for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity.  The Veteran timely appealed the Board's decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court).

In June 2021, the Board granted service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability.

In a June 2021 rating decision, the RO implemented the Board's award of service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability and assigned a 20 percent disability rating, effective October 12, 2016.  The RO also granted service connection for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected thoracolumbar spine disability and assigned a 10 percent disability rating, effective October 12, 2016.

In a July 2021 Order, the Court granted the parties' June 2021 Joint Motion for Remand (JMR), vacated the Board's March 2020 decision, and remanded the matter to the Board for further adjudication consistent with the JMR.

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On review of the procedural history above, the Board finds that the appeal seeking entitlement to service connection for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity must be dismissed as moot.  The June 2021 rating decision represents a full grant of the benefit sought.  Accordingly, there is no case or controversy currently before the Board in this appeal, and it is therefore dismissed. 

 

 

S. B. MAYS

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	C. M. Gill, 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.