Citation Nr: 21011198 Decision Date: 03/01/21 Archive Date: 03/01/21 DOCKET NO. 16-24 954A DATE: March 1, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder disability is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a right shoulder disability is dismissed. Entitlement to service connection for a chronic lumbosacral strain, to include as secondary to a right knee disability, is dismissed. FINDING OF FACT In November 2020, the RO granted service connection for a chronic lumbosacral strain, rotator cuff tendonitis with left shoulder impingement, and rotator cuff tendonitis with right shoulder impingement. CONCLUSION OF LAW The appeal as to the issue of entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder disability, a right shoulder disability, and a chronic lumbosacral strain is dismissed because there is no case or controversy. 38 U.S.C. § 7105. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from August 2006 to February 2007, May 2007 to June 2008 and November 2010 to December 2011. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a December 2013 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In September 2019, the Veteran testified at a hearing conducted by the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the hearing is associated with the Veteran’s claims file. The following March, the Board remanded the Veteran’s claim for additional development. The case is once again back before the Board. 1. Entitlement to service connection for a left shoulder disability is dismissed. 2. Entitlement to service connection for a right shoulder disability is dismissed. 3. Entitlement to service connection for a chronic lumbosacral strain, to include as secondary to a right knee disability, is dismissed. In February 2012, the Veteran filed a service connection claim for his back, left shoulder, and right shoulder, among other disabilities. In December 2013, the RO denied his claim. The Veteran timely disagreed with the decision and then perfected his appeal to the Board. Relevant here, the Veteran marked his area of disagreement as “evaluation of disability” and indicated that he sought a 30 percent disability rating and a 60 percent disability rating for his shoulders and back, respectively. From there, the Board remanded the Veteran’s claim for additional development. After completion, the RO awarded service connection for the Veteran’s back and shoulder disabilities. Then, it prepared a Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC) and returned the Veteran’s appeal to the Board. Apparently, the RO believed the Veteran’s February 2014 Notice of Disagreement (NOD) constituted a valid NOD for the downstream issue of compensation level. Of course, the RO initially found the Veteran’s disabilities not service-connected in the December 2013 rating decision and never reached the question of compensation level. “Because the first appeal concerned the rejection of the logically up-stream element of service-connectedness, the appeal could not concern the logically down-stream element of compensation level.” Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156, 1158-59 (Fed. Cir. 1997). Accordingly, the Board finds that the RO’s grant of service connection is a full award of benefits sought on appeal. See id. Should the Veteran believe a higher rating is warranted, he need only notify VA of his disagreement with the November 2020 rating decision. See id. at 1158 (“It was only the second NOD that could... initiate appellate review of this claim concerning compensation level.”). With no case or controversy currently before the Board, the appeal must be dismissed. 38 U.S.C. § 7105. M. Donohue Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Canedy, 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.