The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for pneumonia, a back disability secondary to an inservice thoracotomy, and lung removal due to the conclusion that these disabilities resulted from the veteran's own abuse of drugs during service.
The deciding factor: Service connection may not be established on a direct basis for a disease or injury resulting from a veteran's own willful misconduct or, for claims filed after October 31, 1990, the result of his or her abuse of alcohol or drugs.
- Claimed conditions
- pneumonia, back disability secondary to an inservice thoracotomy, lung removal
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 24, 2000
- Citation
- 0004833
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0004833.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for pneumonia, diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and asthma as causes of death. The evidence did not support finding that these conditions were related to his service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and pneumonia due to insufficient evidence in the record. The Veteran's current diagnoses are not supported by the medical records provided.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for the cause of his death, finding that there was no evidence linking any of the immediate or contributing causes of his death to his period of active duty service. The Board also found that the PACT Act did not apply in this case as the Veteran served prior to the period when herbicide agents were presumed used.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for left ankle disability, chronic sinusitis, bronchitis, and pneumonia are remanded due to the need for additional development including VA examinations.
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