Charles E. Deshner v. Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs

N OTE: This order is nonprecedential.
United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit
______________________
CHARLES E. DESHNER,
Claimant-Appellant
v.
DENIS MCDONOUGH, SECRETARY OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS,
Respondent-Appellee
______________________
2021-2341
______________________
Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for
Veterans Claims in No. 20-2156, Judge Amanda L. Mere-
dith.
______________________
Before D YK, REYNA, and STARK, Circuit Judges.
P ER CURIAM .
O R D E R
Appellant appeals the determination by the United
States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (“Veterans
Court”) that he was not eligible for total disability individ-
ual unemployability (“TDIU”) status before 2016 based on
appellant’s theory that two of his disabilities were combin-
able in 2015 because they resulted from a “common etiol-
ogy.” 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a). The Veterans Court concluded
Case: 21-2341 Document: 34 Page: 1 Filed: 03/09/2023

-- 1 of 2 --

DESHNER v. MCDONOUGH 2
that this theory had not been raised before the Board of
Veterans’ Appeals (“Board”). Because of the remand in this
case to the Board, the Board has before it the question of
when appellant became entitled to schedular TDIU as a re-
sult of his 70% post-traumatic stress disorder disability.
Appellant’s theories (1) in this appeal that his eligibility
date for schedular TDIU precedes 2016 because of a combi-
nation of two of his disabilities and (2) in the remand pro-
ceeding that he is owed TDIU before 2016 because of his
PTSD alone are part of a single claim.
We “generally decline[] to review non-final orders of the
Veterans Court.” Williams v. Principi, 275 F.3d 1361, 1363
(Fed. Cir. 2002) (citation omitted). Under Williams, all the-
ories to entitlement stemming from a single claim must be
finally rejected by the Veterans Court to be fit for our re-
view, with narrow exceptions not applicable here.
Accordingly,
I T I S O RDERED T HAT :
The appeal is dismissed. Each party shall bear its own
costs.
March 9, 2023
Date
F OR THE COURT
/s/ Peter R. Marksteiner
Peter R. Marksteiner
Clerk of Court
Case: 21-2341 Document: 34 Page: 2 Filed: 03/09/2023

-- 2 of 2 --