Citation Nr: 21025924
Decision Date: 04/29/21	Archive Date: 04/29/21

DOCKET NO. 21-00 393
DATE: April 29, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to an effective date earlier than May 8, 2018, for the grant of an increased, 10 percent rating for a service-connected right thumb disability is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

An April 2021 rating decision granted the requested earlier effective date of January 22, 2018, for the grant of an increased 10 percent rating for the service-connected thumb disability.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The appeal seeking an earlier effective for the grant of an increased, 10 percent rating for the service-connected right thumb disability is dismissed.  38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 20.205.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Air Force from February 1963 to January 1967.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2018 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office that granted an increased, 10 percent rating for a service-connected right thumb disability from May 8, 2018.  In a February 2021 decision, the Board remanded the issue of entitlement to an effective date earlier than May 8, 2018, for the grant of the increased, 10 percent rating to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) for it to readjudicate the matter and issue of a statement of the case if it remained denied.

The Board notes the February 2021 Board decision separately remanded the issue of entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for the right thumb disability for additional development, which has not been completed.  Accordingly, the matter is not before the Board at this time, but will be so if the AOJ continues to deny a rating in excess of 10 percent for the right thumb disability.

Entitlement to an earlier effective date.

The AOJ issued a statement of the case denying entitlement to an effective date earlier than May 8, 2018, for the grant of an increased, 10 percent rating for the service-connected right thumb disability in February 2021.  The Veteran’s representative filed a substantive appeal in March 2021, arguing an effective date no later than January 22, 2018, was warranted.  The representative noted the Veteran filed a claim for increased in May 2018, but that a January 22, 2018, VA treatment record documented complaints of increased hand pain.  A July 2018 VA examination documented the increase in severity.   

The appeal returned to the Board in April 2021, but a rating decision issued later that month granted the requested earlier effective date of January 22, 2018, for the increased, 10 percent rating for the right thumb disability.

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As the full benefit sought was granted, there remains no allegation of error of fact or law for appellate consideration.  The Board no longer has jurisdiction over the appeal, and it is dismissed.  See AB v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 35, 38 (1993).

 

John J. Crowley

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	William A. Skowronski, 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.