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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0100184.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including sinusitis, elbows condition, cervical condition, erectile dysfunction, kidney condition, sleep apnea, wrists condition, asthma, shoulders condition, ankles condition, eye condition (bilateral dry macular degeneration), peripheral vascular disease (heart condition), and rhinitis.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma but denied it for hypertension.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent disability rating for unspecified trauma and stressor-related disorder with major depressive disorder, recurrent, and alcohol use disorder in early remission, as well as TDIU due to asthma and SMC at the housebound rate.
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