Cromer v. Nicholson
United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
19 Vet. App. 215 (2005)
- Written by Carolyn Strutton, JD
Facts
William Cromer (plaintiff) served in the United States Army from 1945 to 1947. In 1993, Cromer filed a claim with the Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) (defendant) for a service-connected disability for dementia. Comer claimed that his dementia initially originated from an in-service high fever and brain infection allegedly caused by contaminated milk he consumed. All of Cromer’s service medical records, however, were missing and likely had been lost during a fire in 1973 at a government records storage facility. The VA denied his claim for lack of evidence of a service connection, and Cromer appealed to the Board of Veteran’s Appeals (the board). The board upheld the denial, finding that Cromer’s dementia began decades after service and there was no evidence to support a service connection. Cromer appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, alleging that he was entitled to a presumption of a service connection due to the government’s loss of his service medical records, which should shift the burden of proof to the VA to disprove his claimed service connection.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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