The Veteran's chronic bronchitis was not incurred in service and may not be presumed to have been incurred due to herbicide exposure. The Board found the VA examination report more probative than the Veteran's lay assertions.
The deciding factor: The June 2009 VA examination concluded that the Veteran's mild airway obstruction was 'more likely than not' related to his history of smoking, and did not find any evidence of an ongoing respiratory problem in service or due to herbicide exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic bronchitis, pharyngitis, mild obstructive lung disease
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 5, 2011
- Citation
- 1100522
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 1100522.
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 decided to remand the case due to a lack of adequate examination and opinion regarding the Veteran's claimed chronic bronchitis. The Veteran is seeking service connection for this condition, which was denied in an initial decision. The VA examiner did not address the medical record indicating a current diagnosis of chronic bronchitis.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for chronic bronchitis, finding that the Veteran's current condition is related to his active duty service.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for service connection for depression, Gram Positive Cocci Condition, chronic bronchitis, irritable bowel syndrome, and diseases of Keratinization due to untimely filing of the Decision Review Request.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for hypertension and pharyngitis were denied as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions.,The Veteran's claim for bilateral hearing loss was denied because the audiometric results did not meet the criteria for a disability under VA standards.
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