The Board denied the appellant's claims for service connection for the cause of her husband's death and payment of Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318, finding that there was no legal basis to grant either claim due to a change in law regarding tobacco-related disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the appellant's claims were denied because of a change in law prohibiting service connection for death due to the use of tobacco products during active military service. The veteran had nicotine dependence, but his death was not considered to be caused by this condition as it was attributable to tobacco use outside of service.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with emphysema, chronic bronchitis, asthma, cor pulmonale
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 5, 2001
- Citation
- 0100184
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 0100184.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's respiratory disability, including asthma and COPD, is denied as service connection is not warranted due to the condition being solely attributed to smoking.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the cases of sleep apnea and asthma due to a failure to provide proper notice for a hearing.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection for asthma and a 10 percent rating based on multiple noncompensable service-connected disabilities were dismissed. The claim of entitlement to a compensable rating for eczema was denied, while the claim of entitlement to allergic rhinitis was not addressed as it pertained to different issues.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to secure and follow substantially gainful employment prior to August 14, 2023.
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