The Board denied service connection for the cause of the veteran's death due to a lack of evidence linking his fatal lung disease to active military service.
The deciding factor: There is no competent medical evidence showing that the veteran's fatal chronic obstructive lung disease was related to his active military service.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic obstructive lung disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 18, 2003
- Citation
- 0335711
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 0335711.
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 exostosis right foot and bilateral plantar fasciitis, but denied service connection for hysterectomy, left shoulder pain, right shoulder pain, dysmenorrhea, chronic obstructive lung disease, female sexual arousal disorder, and a foot callus.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a medical opinion regarding the etiologies of the Veteran's depression, alcohol use disorder, hypertension, and COPD in relation to his cause of death.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral benign breast tumors and chronic obstructive lung disease, finding no evidence linking these conditions to his active duty service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his transverse myelitis with sarcoidosis was related to his military service or a service-connected disability and ultimately resulted in his death. The Board resolved all reasonable doubt in favor of the appellant.
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