The Board has determined that the veteran's nicotine dependence, which existed prior to service but may have increased in severity during service, is proximately due to tobacco use resulting from nicotine dependence incurred in or aggravated by active service. Therefore, the lung disability is granted as secondary to service-connected nicotine dependence.
The deciding factor: The Board found no clear and unmistakable evidence that the veteran's nicotine dependence underwent a chronic increase in severity during service, thus preserving the presumption of soundness for nicotine dependence.
- Claimed conditions
- Lung Disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 26, 2006
- Citation
- 0633238
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,325 · Granted: 31% (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 0633238.
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
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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Remanded (sent back)
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