The Board denied the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of her husband's death, finding that the veteran's COPD and heart disease were not incurred in service or due to nicotine dependence incurred there. The law was amended prohibiting such claims.
The deciding factor: Service connection is prohibited by law for disabilities attributable to a veteran's use of tobacco in service.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Coronary artery disease (CAD), Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), Diabetes mellitus (DM)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2001
- Citation
- 0124803
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 0124803.
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 readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a TDIU due to service-connected disabilities prior to February 14, 2025, as the evidence did not show that he was precluded from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment during the appeal period.
- Denied
The appeal for service connection for PTSD was dismissed, and the claims for a compensable rating for the lower back scar, service connection for COPD, and peripheral artery disease were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, COPD, a gastrointestinal disability, and migraines due to lack of evidence supporting a link between these conditions and her military service.
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