The Board finds that the Veteran's respiratory disability, consistent with constrictive bronchiolitis, is related to his service in the Southwest Asia Theater of Operations during the Persian Gulf War and grants service connection for this condition.
The deciding factor: Service connection was granted based on exposure to sulfur dioxide from a fire at the Mishraq State Sulfur Mine during the Veteran's deployment in Iraq, which is considered presumptive under the provisions for undiagnosed illnesses or medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illnesses related to service in the Persian Gulf War.
- Claimed conditions
- constrictive bronchiolitis
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 13, 2017
- Citation
- 1757625
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 1757625.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for various respiratory conditions due to a deficient notice letter in his initial rating decision.
- Granted
The Veteran's chronic fatigue syndrome was granted a 60 percent rating effective February 4, 2021. The earliest possible date for the award of service connection is February 4, 2021.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder was granted. However, the claim for service connection for constrictive bronchiolitis and obliterative bronchiolitis was denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic bronchitis, rhinitis, sinusitis, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) under the PACT Act. Service connection was denied for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), constrictive bronchiolitis, gastrointestinal disability other than IBS, and an increased rating for asthma.
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