The Board has determined that the veteran does not have a current diagnosis of peptic ulcer disease, and therefore service connection for this condition is denied. The Board also found no evidence to support direct or secondary service connection for COPD and coronary artery disease due to in-service tobacco use.
The deciding factor: The medical records do not provide sufficient evidence to establish the presence of peptic ulcer disease at any point during the veteran's lifetime, nor does there appear to be a causal link between his active service and these conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- peptic ulcer disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary artery disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- March 21, 2003
- Citation
- 0305321
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,242 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0305321.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board allowed the benefit or issue identified in this decision. Review the original order: other issues in the same appeal may have a different outcome, and this decision does not predict another claim.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's depression was rated at 50 percent prior to September 27, 2017. From September 27, 2017, the rating for depression increased to 70 percent.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: 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.
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