The Board denied the veteran's request for an earlier effective date of July 14, 2003, for the grant of a 30 percent rating for his spontaneous pneumothorax. The veteran was awarded service connection in February 1957 and the last final denial of assignment of a compensable rating was in April 1960. There is no evidence of an increase in disability associated with the veteran's spontaneous pneumothorax within one year of July 2003.
The deciding factor: The effective date for the grant of a 30 percent rating for the veteran's recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax was assigned as July 14, 2003, because there is no evidence of an increase in disability associated with the veteran's condition within one year of his current claim.
- Claimed conditions
- spontaneous pneumothorax
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- January 17, 2008
- Citation
- 0801867
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 0801867.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Denied
The Board denied service connection for spontaneous pneumothorax, finding no evidence of a causal relationship between the condition and military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the VA opinion is inadequate and requires further examination to determine if the Veteran's chronic sinusitis contributed to his cause of death, which includes pneumonia and sepsis.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for a rating in excess of 50 percent for obstructive sleep apnea and spontaneous pneumothorax, as well as an initial compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, was denied. The Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea required the use of a CPAP machine but did not meet the criteria for higher ratings due to his FEV-1/FVC levels. His bilateral hearing loss was rated at Level I and therefore noncompensably disabling.
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