The VA determined that the veteran does not have a lung disorder related to service or in-service exposure to asbestos, and thus denied his claim for service connection.
The deciding factor: VA medical opinions were more persuasive than the private physician's evaluation, which was based on unsupported assertions and plain chest X-rays. The recent PFTs, CT scans, and physical examination findings did not support a diagnosis of asbestos-related lung disease.
- Claimed conditions
- asbestos-related lung disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 16, 2006
- Citation
- 0607736
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,440 · 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 0607736.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to lack of evidence supporting an asbestos-related lung disorder and insufficient medical opinions regarding COPD and left axillary lymph node removal. The Veteran is not entitled to service connection for his claimed conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's initial claim for service connection of asbestos-related lung disorder was denied in March 2001. The RO accepted the Veteran's untimely VA Form 9 as a reopened claim and granted service connection with an effective date of April 3, 2007.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current asbestos-related lung disorder or left hip disability, and that any such disabilities are not related to service-connected conditions. The claim for an asbestos-related lung disorder is denied, and the claim for a left hip disability secondary to service-connected right hip, leg, and foot disabilities is also denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for COPD and denied increased ratings for the scar as a residual of left pneumothorax. The Veteran's COPD was found to be due to post-service asbestos exposure, but not related to his in-service left pneumothorax or any other service-connected condition.
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