COPD decisions — 2018

The Board finds that the Veteran does not currently have a respiratory disability and therefore denies her claim of entitlement to service connection for pneumonia, bronchitis, and COPD.

The Veteran's service-connected conditions did not cause or contribute to his death. The claim for service connection for the cause of death is denied.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for asthma. However, it has denied his claims for service connection for COPD and a respiratory disorder to include asthma and COPD.

The Veteran's bronchiectasis, COPD and recurrent pneumonia are found to be chronic conditions that had their onset in service and have continued since service. The Board affirms the grant of service connection for these disabilities.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection due to lung cancer and COPD, finding that he did not meet eligibility criteria from June 9, 1994, when respiratory cancers were added as a presumptive Agent Orange disease. The earliest effective date assigned was September 9, 2004.

The Board finds that the Veteran's COPD is aggravated by her service-connected asthma and grants service connection for COPD on a secondary basis.

The Board has found that the Veteran's lung cancer residuals include COPD, and thus his claim for an increased rating is addressed in the REMAND portion of this decision. The issue of service connection for erectile dysfunction remains pending.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for COPD, finding that his current condition is causally related to his military service.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional development due to insufficient medical opinions and incomplete evidence.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's COPD is not etiologically related to active duty service, including as secondary to exposure to a herbicide agent (Agent Orange), and no presumption of service connection based on exposure or otherwise is applicable.

The Veteran's Hepatitis C is found to be service-connected. The COPD, low back disorder, and bilateral ankle disorders are not found to be service-connected.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral knee disabilities and a respiratory disability, claimed as COPD, are being remanded due to the need to obtain additional medical records and provide VA examinations.

The Veteran's appeal was dismissed due to his death, and the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this claim.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's COPD did not have its onset in service and was not otherwise etiologically related to active duty, including gas mask training during boot camp or the single episode of acute respiratory disease in November 1961. The preponderance of evidence supports a finding that the Veteran's COPD is due to his history of smoking.

The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional development, including obtaining medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's claimed conditions and his presumed exposure to Agent Orange.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection due to new and material evidence. The Board also found that COPD is more likely than not related to service, including exposure to tear gas chambers during basic training.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims of service connection for erectile dysfunction, pulmonary tuberculosis with COPD, and PTSD. However, it denied these claims as new evidence did not provide a link between the conditions and service.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining a VA medical opinion regarding the Veteran's COPD and its relationship to service, as well as his TDIU claim.

The Board found that the award of service connection for COPD in June 2008 was based on clear and unmistakable error (CUE) due to misinterpretation of a VA examiner's opinion. The December 2014 rating decision severed entitlement to service connection for COPD effective March 1, 2015. For the period from May 29, 2007 to March 1, 2015, an initial noncompensable rating is denied as there was no evidence of a compensable disability.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's COPD did not have its onset in service and is not otherwise the result of a disease or injury incurred in service. Therefore, the claim for service connection for COPD is denied.