The veteran's claims for service connection for nicotine dependence, pulmonary disease, and coronary artery disease are denied due to the prohibition of such claims under new legislation effective June 9, 1998.
The deciding factor: The provisions of 38 U.S.C.A. § 1103 prohibit service connection for disabilities resulting from tobacco use during service, including nicotine dependence and its secondary effects on pulmonary disease and coronary artery disease.
- Claimed conditions
- nicotine dependence, pulmonary disease, coronary artery disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 10, 2003
- Citation
- 0302466
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,175 · Granted: 22% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0302466.
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 Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for coronary artery disease is being remanded due to the inadequacy of a previous VA examination.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for coronary artery disease, hypertension, and stroke as there was no evidence of herbicide agent exposure during service and the medical opinions were against a nexus to service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claim for coronary artery disease with myocardial infarction is granted on a presumptive basis due to exposure to herbicide agents during his active duty in Korea.
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