The Veteran's claim for service connection for chronic bronchitis was denied as there is no evidence of a current diagnosis or in-service incurrence.,Service connection for low back disability and unspecified trauma and stressor related disorder were also denied, with the latter having its rating increased to 10 percent.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not provide sufficient medical evidence to establish service connection for chronic bronchitis. The available records do not show a diagnosis of chronic bronchitis during or after his military service.,For low back disability, the Veteran's range of motion was found to be 80 degrees of forward flexion with pain, which is within the limits required for a 10 percent rating. For unspecified trauma and stressor related disorder, symptoms such as flattened affect, panic attacks more than once a week, difficulty understanding complex commands, impairment of short- and long-term memory, impaired judgment, and disturbances of motivation and mood were noted.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic bronchitis, low back disability, unspecified trauma and stressor related disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 2, 2019
- Citation
- 19124353
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disabilities to the AOJ for further development and consideration of evidence not previously considered.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the veteran's claimed conditions, including right shoulder arthritis, left shoulder arthritis, right hip condition, left hip condition, low back disability, and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, as there was no evidence of in-service injury or illness related to these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claim for service connection for a low back disability to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
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