Robinson v. Peake

Marvin Robinson (plaintiff) served on active duty in the United States Navy from 1986 to 1988. Upon his discharge, the Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA) (defendant) awarded him service-connected-disability benefits for peptic-ulcer disease. In 1998, he filed a new claim for benefits for heart and thyroid conditions, alleging that these conditions were secondary to his service-connected disability. The VA denied his claim. Robinson retained an experienced veterans-law attorney as his counsel and appealed the decision to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (the board). In 2001, the board remanded the matter to the VA for further medical examinations to determine the nature, severity, and etiology of the claimed conditions. In 2002, a VA medical report found no evidence that Robinson’s heart and thyroid conditions were secondary to his service-connected ulcer disability. In 2004, the board denied a service connection for those conditions, relying on the medical report. Throughout all of these proceedings, Robinson asserted eligibility for benefits for these conditions on only a secondary basis. Robinson appealed the board’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (the veterans court). In that appeal, he alleged for the first time in any context that he was entitled to a direct service connection for the claimed conditions, not for them to be treated as secondary conditions related to his service-connected ulcer disease.