The Board has reopened the veteran's claim for service connection for a pulmonary disability and granted service connection based on evidence showing that his restrictive lung disease is at least as likely as not due to pneumonia in service.
The deciding factor: A VA physician provided an opinion linking the veteran's restrictive lung disease to pneumonia during military service, which raised a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim.
- Claimed conditions
- pulmonary disability, restrictive lung disease
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 12, 2006
- Citation
- 0631696
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 493 · Granted: 28% (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 0631696.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for specially adapted housing is remanded due to a lack of a VA examination, which was a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The Board must now schedule the Veteran for an examination to determine if his service-connected asthma with restrictive lung disease and chronic hypoxic respiratory failure qualifies him for specially adapted housing.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is dismissed as moot because the Veteran's service-connected disabilities resulted in a combined schedular evaluation of at least 70% prior to October 15, 2024, and he was able to maintain employment despite his conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death was not related to his service-connected disabilities and thus denied DIC benefits. The claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death is remanded due to a lack of a medical opinion regarding the etiology.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's pulmonary disability, including asthma and COPD, is causally related to his toxic exposure risk activity during service. The decision grants service connection for these conditions.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.