Mellinger v. Principi

Type

Opinion of the Court

Author

Sharon Prost

Filed

Oct. 2, 2002

Case

Mellinger v. Principi

Case status

Decided

The first passage of the document, as extracted by the source provider.

ORDER PROST, Circuit Judge. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs moves to waive the requirements of Fed. Cir. R. 27(f) and to dismiss Margaret I. Mellinger’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction or, in the alternative, for summary affirmance of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims’ order. Mellinger opposes. In 1958, Mellinger’s husband (the veteran) received a noncompensable disability rating for heart disease claims. In 1995, the veteran sought to reopen his heart condition claims. The regional office (RO) denied his claims. The veteran died while his appeal of the RO’s decision was pending before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Mellinger subsequently sought dependence and indemnity compensation, along with accrued benefits. The RO eventually awarded a 100 percent rating for service-connected heart disease, effective February 1995 for accrued benefits purposes. The RO concluded that the 1995 RO decision denying the veteran’s claims was clearly and unmistakably erroneous. Mel-linger appealed to the Board, arguing that she was entitled to accrued benefits from 1958. Applying 38 C.F.R. § 3.1000 , the Board adjusted the effective date to December 1993, two years before the d…

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