Citation Nr: 25001002 Decision Date: 01/24/25 Archive Date: 01/24/25 DOCKET NO. 17-14 290 DATE: January 24, 2025 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for gastrointestinal symptoms is dismissed as moot. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. In a February 2024 rating decision, the Veteran was awarded service connection for gastrointestinal symptoms on a presumptive basis pursuant to the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 (PACT Act) as 10 percent disabling, effective July 24, 2023; a November 2024 rating decision granted an earlier effective date of August 10, 2022. This constitutes a full grant of benefits sought on appeal. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for dismissal of entitlement to service connection for gastrointestinal symptoms have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 19.55. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from July 1966 to July 1968, from January 1991 to September 1991, from July 1996 to March 1997 and from February 2002 to April 2002. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2013 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In relevant part, this matter was previously before the Board in November 2021, March 2022, July 2023, and May 2024, and was remanded for further development. Pursuant to the May 2024 remand, the RO obtained opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's gastrointestinal symptoms, including whether the Veteran was entitled to service connection for his gastrointestinal symptoms under the PACT Act. The RO granted the Veteran's claim under the PACT Act in a September 2024 rating decision with an effective date of July 24, 2023. In a November 2024 rating decision, the RO granted an earlier effective date of August 10, 2022, the date the PACT Act went into effect. 1. Entitlement to service connection for gastrointestinal is dismissed as moot. As noted above, the Veteran has been granted service connection for gastrointestinal symptoms under the PACT Act. The Board may dismiss any appeal which fails to allege specific error of fact or law in the determination being appealed. 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 19.55. As a general matter, the grant of a claim of service connection constitutes an award of full benefits sought on an appeal of the denial of a service connection claim. Seri v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 441, 447 (2007); see also Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156 (Fed. Cir. 1997) (where an appealed claim for service connection is granted during the pendency of the appeal, a second Notice of Disagreement must thereafter be timely filed to initiate appellate review of "downstream" issues such as the compensation level assigned for the disability or the effective date of service connection). In this case, the Veteran's appeal stemmed from an informal August 13, 2010, claim to service connection. He was awarded service connection in a September 2024 rating decision by the RO under the PACT Act. The RO assigned an effective date of July 24, 2023; in a November 2024 rating decision, the RO granted an earlier effective date of August 10, 2022, the date the PACT Act went into effect. The Veteran is free to request review or appeal of that determination within a one-year period. Any contest to either effective date or rating is considered a "downstream" issue not included in a service connection analysis. See Grantham v. Brown, 114 F 3d 1156, 1158 (Fed. Cir. 1997); Holland v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 433 (1997) (holding that service connection, rating issues and effective date issues are separate, and that effective date issues are downstream in relation to the other issues). Therefore, as service connection has already been granted and there is a clearly established procedural framework for appealing decisions and for initiating Board review of timely appealed rating decisions, the Board must find there is no current case or controversy in dispute regarding the award of service connection for gastrointestinal symptoms. Id. The claim is dismissed. LESLEY A. REIN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board R. Eisenberg 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.