The Board found that the Veteran's current COPD is not related to his service, including claimed mustard gas exposure. The claim was denied as there was no evidence of full-body exposure to mustard gas or Lewisite during service and the VA examiner concluded that the COPD is less likely than not incurred in service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found insufficient evidence of mustard gas exposure and noted a long history of smoking as the primary cause of the Veteran's COPD.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 17, 2012
- Citation
- 1224830
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 1224830.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's cause of death was determined to be due to COPD, but the Board found no evidence linking this condition to his service or exposure to herbicide agents. As such, service connection for the cause of death is denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's COPD with OSA has been granted an initial rating of 60 percent effective May 1, 2019. The claim for separate ratings is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for OSA and COPD on a secondary basis, as well as the initial rating for constipation. The issues of entitlement to SMC-HB and TDIU have been dismissed due to withdrawal by the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an initial compensable evaluation of service-connected COPD to ensure a proper medical examination is conducted.
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