The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for a chronic respiratory disability, including bullous emphysema status/post left lobectomy, finding that there was no medical evidence linking his current lung disorder to military service. The claim was also dismissed due to the prohibition on service connection for disabilities attributable to use of tobacco products during service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner determined that the veteran's lung condition was most likely caused by smoking, which cannot be compensated for VA purposes.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic respiratory disability, bullous emphysema status/post left lobectomy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 18, 2006
- Citation
- 0632489
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 0632489.
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.
- Partly granted
The veteran's claim for service connection for a left shoulder disability was reopened due to new and material evidence. Effective dates were granted for right knee instability (December 11, 2017) and left knee instability (February 12, 2018). Other issues were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the cases of bilateral hand tremor and chronic respiratory disability due to inadequate medical opinions regarding exposure to toxic chemicals during service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a chronic respiratory disability, thyroid disability, vision disability, and chronic paronychia as there was insufficient evidence to establish that these conditions were related to his active military service.
- Denied
The VA determined that the veteran's respiratory disability was not incurred as a result of his military service, including exposure to herbicides.
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