The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, colon cancer, and bronchiectasis as secondary to nicotine dependence acquired during service.
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence of record demonstrating the veteran has a diagnosis of these conditions, and the weight of the competent evidence is against a finding that his conditions were caused or aggravated by long-standing smoking associated with his service-connected nicotine dependence.
- Claimed conditions
- diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, colon cancer, bronchiectasis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 19, 2006
- Citation
- 0601681
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for prostate cancer, related to in-service exposures at Camp Lejeune.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for hypertension and diabetes mellitus to obtain further medical opinions regarding their potential relationship to toxic exposures during active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran is granted an effective date of April 25, 2014, for service connection for prostate cancer.
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