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Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease in which clusters of cells form in organs — most often the lungs and lymph nodes. It can range from mild to disabling.
VA rating schedule, diagnostic code 6846
Sarcoidosis is a condition where small clumps of inflamed cells (called granulomas) build up in the body, most often in the lungs. The VA recognizes it as a real, ratable disability. To pay benefits, the VA first needs a current diagnosis and a service connection — meaning the records show the condition is linked to your time in service — and then assigns a rating that reflects how much the disease affects you.
The VA rates sarcoidosis under 38 CFR § 4.97 (respiratory system), Diagnostic Code 6846. The rating scales with how serious the disease is and how much treatment it takes to control: a 0% rating covers chronic hilar adenopathy or stable lung infiltrates without symptoms; 30% applies when there is pulmonary involvement with persistent symptoms needing chronic low-dose or intermittent corticosteroids; 60% applies when control requires systemic high-dose (therapeutic) corticosteroids; and 100% applies for cor pulmonale, cardiac involvement with congestive heart failure, or progressive disease with fever, night sweats, and weight loss despite treatment. The rule also lets the VA instead rate active disease or residuals as chronic bronchitis, or rate involvement of other organs under the body system affected, when that better fits the facts.
There may also be a faster path to service connection for some veterans. Under the PACT Act, sarcoidosis is listed as a presumptive condition tied to burn-pit and other toxic exposures for veterans who served in covered locations and time periods. "Presumptive" means the VA presumes the exposure caused the condition, so a qualifying veteran usually does not have to prove that link separately; whether you qualify depends on your service dates and locations.
This is general educational information about how the VA's rules work — not legal advice, not a VA decision, and not a prediction about any individual claim. Outcomes depend on your own facts and evidence; a denial can be appealed.
Grounded in federal regulations and VA guidance, independently reviewed June 2026. Educational information, not legal advice or a VA determination.
Across 2,396 real Board appeals for Sarcoidosis
A denial is often not the end either — remands (shown below) are sent back for more development and can still end in a grant. These are historical outcomes, not a prediction of your case.
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Among the appeals that were granted or partly granted, the most common ways Sarcoidosis was linked to service:
In appeals where Sarcoidosis was the only condition decided and the Board granted it, the rating most often assigned was:
These appeals involved a recognized exposure — which can mean the link to service is presumed, with no nexus to prove:
The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings have been granted. The initial rating of 10 percent, but not higher, has been assigned for pulmonary sarcoidosis. Service connection has also been established for migraine headaches, degenerative arthritis in the left knee, right knee disorder (osteoarthritis), right ankle sprain, right shoulder rotator cuff tendonitis, bilateral flat feet, and various foot conditions.
The Board has granted service connection for a low back condition and dismissed the appeal for sarcoidosis.
The Board has granted service connection for a left knee disability and denied service connection for obstructive sleep apnea. The initial rating for the service-connected sarcoidosis remains at noncompensable (0%) due to lack of evidence showing more than minimal impairment.
The appellant is granted a 30 percent disability rating for sarcoidosis with COPD prior to December 12, 2024.
The Board has granted service connection for sarcoidosis on a direct basis, finding that the evidence is at least approximately balanced as to whether the Veteran's sarcoidosis is related to his active-duty service. The decision was based on a private medical opinion and the Veteran's participation in TERA during service.
The Veteran's SMC(l) was granted based on his service-connected prostate cancer, metastatic cancer of the back, ribs, and pelvis, and metastatic cancer of the lymphatic system. The Board found that he has additional disabilities independently ratable at 50 percent or more, including RUE peripheral neuropathy, diabetes with erectile dysfunction, LLE peripheral neuropathy, sciatic nerve, RLE peripheral neuropathy, femoral nerve, left knee arthritis, right knee arthritis, and right clavicle fracture residuals. The Veteran is now entitled to SMC(m 1/2) based on these additional disabilities.
Jump to the decisions from a specific year.
New decisions are added every week, and older years are actively being backfilled — a year that looks thin or missing here (especially 2011–2017) is a gap in our library, not in the Board’s decisions.
Veterans appealing Sarcoidosis often look at outcomes for these too:
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