The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim of service connection for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and granted a noncompensable evaluation for his residual scar, chest wall. The Veteran's COPD is found to be related to active service, while his scar is not considered painful or unstable.
The deciding factor: The evidence submitted since the last final denial raised a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim of service connection for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Board finds that COPD was incurred in active service. For the residual scar, chest wall, there is no credible evidence to support an evaluation based on pain or instability.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Residual Scar, Chest Wall
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 0%
- Decision date
- February 9, 2016
- Citation
- 1604824
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 1604824.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board allowed the benefit or issue identified in this decision. Review the original order: other issues in the same appeal may have a different outcome, and this decision does not predict another claim.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused or contributed to by service or a service-connected disability. The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death as there was no evidence of herbicide exposure during service and no other link between the Veteran's death and his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not service connected due to lack of evidence linking his conditions to service, and there is no presumption of exposure to herbicide agents (Agent Orange). The Board found the evidence did not support a grant of service connection for any condition that caused or contributed to the Veteran's death.
- Granted
The Veteran was entitled to payment or reimbursement for medical expenses incurred due to an emergency at a non-VA facility because VA facilities were not feasibly available and he had a permanent and total disability rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the cause of death (CHF, laryngeal cancer, and COPD) is not related to service. The case is being remanded for further development including obtaining in-patient records from Camp Carson, Colorado, verifying asbestos exposure during service, and obtaining a new VA medical opinion.
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