Citation Nr: 18160485
Decision Date: 12/28/18	Archive Date: 12/26/18

DOCKET NO. 15-14 637A
DATE:	December 28, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for hypertension is dismissed.  
FINDING OF FACT
During the November 2017 Board hearing, the Veteran expressed his desire to withdraw from appeal the claim of entitlement to service connection for hypertension.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for withdrawal of the Veteran’s appeal for service connection for hypertension have been met.  38 U.S.C. § 7105(b)(2), (d)(5) (2012); 38 C.F.R. 
§ 20.204 (2017).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran, who is the appellant in this case, served on active duty from September 1963 to August 1967 and from September 1972 to August 1974.
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2013 decision of the VA Regional Office (RO) in Nashville, Tennessee.  
The Veteran testified at a November 2017 Travel Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ).  A copy of the hearing transcript is associated with the claims file.
1. Entitlement to service connection for hypertension.  
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.  An appeal may be withdrawn as to any or all issues involved in the appeal at any time before the Board promulgates a decision.  38 C.F.R. § 20.204.  Withdrawal may be made by the appellant or by his or her authorized representative.  38 C.F.R. § 20.204.
During the Veteran’s November 2017 hearing, the Veteran expressed his desire to withdraw his appeal as to the claim for service connection for hypertension.  The Veteran’s desire to withdraw his appeal as to this claim is recorded in the hearing transcript. 
In Acree v. O’Rourke, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the withdrawal must be explicit, unambiguous, and done with a full understanding of the consequences of such action by the appellant and the subsequent Board dismissal must include findings as to all three elements. 891 F.3d 1009 (Fed. Cir. 2018).  During the November 2017 hearing, the VLJ stated that the issue of entitlement to service connection for hypertension was being withdrawn from the appeal and both the Veteran and his representative agreed that this was correct.  In October 2018, the Board sent the Veteran letter to clarify that this verbal withdrawal of the appeal on the record during the hearing was made with a full understanding of the consequences of withdrawal.  The letter specifically informed the Veteran of the consequences of withdrawal and stated that, if the Veteran did not respond within 60 days of the date of the letter, the letter would serve as notice of the legal ramifications of the withdrawal of the issue on the record at the Board hearing and the issue would be deemed to have been withdrawn in accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 20.204.  The Veteran did not respond to this letter and the 60-day period has expired.  Thus, the Board finds that the Veteran’s withdrawal of the appeal was done with a full understanding of the consequences of such action by the Veteran.
As the Veteran’s withdrawal of the appeal on the record during the November 2017 Board hearing was explicit, unambiguous, and done with a full understanding of the consequences of such action by the Veteran, there is effectively no longer any remaining allegation of error of fact or law concerning the issue of entitlement to service connection for hypertension.  Accordingly, the Board does not have jurisdiction to review the appeal and it is dismissed
 
DEBORAH W. SINGLETON
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	M. Thomas, Associate Counsel 

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