The Veteran's claim for a total rating based on individual unemployability due to service connected disabilities (TDIU) is granted effective April 26, 2000. The Veteran's claims for service connection for COPD/emphysema, abdominal aortic aneurysm, and carotid artery disease are denied.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not support a finding that the Veteran’s COPD/emphysema had onset in or is otherwise related to his period of active duty service, nor does it show that COPD/emphysema was caused or aggravated beyond its natural progression by service-connected ischemic heart disease.
- Claimed conditions
- COPD/emphysema, abdominal aortic aneurysm, carotid artery disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19115868
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 880 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19115868.
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 Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to a duty to assist error. The Board finds that the Veteran may have been exposed to toxic substances during his service, including RF radiation and asbestos. However, VA did not obtain an opinion regarding the relationship between these exposures and the claimed conditions.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for aortic insufficiency, aortic stenosis and congestive heart failure, and carotid artery disease. The conditions are related to in-service exposure to toxic substances and stress.
- Granted
The Board has restored service connection for the Veteran's abdominal aortic aneurysm as secondary to his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the original grant of service connection was not clearly and unmistakably erroneous.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for abdominal aortic aneurysm, left lower extremity peripheral vascular disease, right lower extremity peripheral vascular disease, and erectile dysfunction were denied as there was no prior claim filed before August 15, 2022.,The Veteran's claims for special monthly compensation based on loss of use of a creative organ were also denied as there was no prior claim filed before August 15, 2022.,Eligibility for Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) under 38 USC chapter 35 was denied as the Veteran did not have a permanent and total service-connected disability prior to August 15, 2022.
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