The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for nicotine dependence, heart disease, and genitourinary cancer, finding that there was no evidence of a current disability or a nexus to service. The Board also found that the veteran did not meet the criteria for nicotine dependence.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence does not support a diagnosis of nicotine dependence in the veteran's case, and any past tobacco use during service is not considered to have caused his current disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Nicotine dependence, Heart disease (coronary artery disease), Genitourinary cancer (left ureter carcinoma, upper tract)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 16, 2004
- Citation
- 0409926
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 292 · Granted: 21% (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 0409926.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for PTSD and nicotine dependence, but granted ratings for left knee limitations in flexion, extension, and patellar instability.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection on multiple conditions were denied in the April 2020 rating decision. The Board is denying these claims based on finality of the decision and lack of new evidence or arguments.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claim for service connection for acquired psychiatric disability due to additional development being required. The VA examiner is asked to provide opinions on whether any of the diagnosed disabilities were caused or aggravated by the Veteran's service, including his service-connected low back disability and opioid use disorder.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected psychiatric disability, including PTSD and dysthymia, is currently rated at 50 percent. The evidence does not support a higher rating as the symptoms do not meet the criteria for a 70 or 100 percent rating.
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