COPD Board decisions

The Board remands the claims for service connection for emphysema, COPD, and sinusitis due to inadequate medical opinions.

The Board remands the claim for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for sarcoidosis to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error.

The Board found that new and relevant evidence had not been received to support the veteran's claims for service connection for melanoma, sarcoma, basal cell carcinoma, COPD, and sinusitis.

The Board granted service connection for chronic bronchitis and COPD, both related to burn pit exposure during the Veteran's service in Vietnam.

The Board denied service connection for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as there was no evidence of a nexus between the condition and the Veteran's active duty, including herbicide exposure.

The Board granted service connection for a respiratory disability, to include COPD and bronchitis, based on the Veteran's in-service participation in toxic exposure risk activities.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for COPD, lung cancer, and sinusitis to obtain additional medical opinions.

The Board granted service connection for unspecified anxiety disorder with major depression, pituitary microadenoma benign neoplasm with migraine headaches, and asthma with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with assigned ratings of 70%, 50%, and 30% respectively. The claims for other conditions were remanded.

The Board granted an effective date of May 27, 2021, for the award of separate ratings for right and left lower extremity radiculopathy but denied an earlier effective date for service connection for GERD. The TDIU claim was also denied.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and remanded several service connection claims due to missing or unassociated private medical records.

The appeal for service connection and rating issues related to left ankle arthritis, bilateral plantar fasciitis, COPD, and bilateral calcaneal spurs was dismissed due to untimely submission of the Notice of Disagreement.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between the COPD and his in-service asbestos exposure or other toxic substances.

The Board remands the appeal to obtain an adequate nexus opinion from a non-VA, independent medical expert in the field of pulmonology.

The Board denied service connection for anemia and a respiratory disorder, including asthma, emphysema, and COPD, as the conditions were not related to in-service exposures.

The Veteran's service-connected migraines were granted a rating of 50 percent, the maximum schedular rating, and an earlier effective date of July 24, 2020, was granted for this increased rating.

The Board remands the issues of service connection for sleep apnea, an initial compensable rating for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and a total rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.

The appeal regarding the proposed reduction of the Veteran's disability rating for asthma with chronic bronchitis and COPD is dismissed because the February 2024 decision was not a final determination by the VA.

The Board granted service connection for a back disability and a respiratory disability, including COPD and asthma, as secondary to the service-connected tuberculosis with lobectomy. The claims for a heart disability, diabetes mellitus, and kidney disability were remanded.

The Board granted an initial 100 percent rating for COPD with asthma and service connection for tinnitus, but remanded the claim for bilateral hearing loss.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, low back condition, COPD, brain condition, diabetes mellitus type II, GERD, heart condition, and hypertension, to obtain additional evidence.