The Board found that the veteran's nicotine dependence and subsequent coronary artery disease and COPD are not service-connected, as there is no objective evidence showing these conditions were incurred or aggravated during his active duty.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence does not establish a link between the veteran's nicotine dependence and any in-service events or exposures, nor does it show that his current conditions resulted from such dependence.
- Claimed conditions
- Nicotine dependence, Coronary artery disease, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 9, 2006
- Citation
- 0600549
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,645 · Granted: 19% (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 0600549.
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