The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for emphysema and lung cancer due to a lack of evidence linking these conditions to his active service. The right lower leg scar is granted as service-connected, but the remaining claims are denied.
The deciding factor: Service connection cannot be established for emphysema and lung cancer because there is no evidence that they were incurred in service or related to tobacco use during service (which is not applicable due to a law enacted after the veteran's claim was filed).
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, ear disorder (not including tinnitus), bilateral knee disorder, back disorder, bilateral hip disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 21, 2005
- Citation
- 0501608
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,613 · Granted: 30% (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 0501608.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional development, including obtaining SSA records and providing proper notice regarding secondary service connection.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
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