The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of death due to asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, attributing it to a history of asthma during military service. The exposure to herbicide agents, specifically Agent Orange, was not considered as the primary cause.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence showing that the Appellant’s spouse's asthma was incurred in or aggravated by his military service, and there is no record of any service-connected disability related to asthma.
- Claimed conditions
- Asthma, Anoxic brain injury due to complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19143307
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 Board denied service connection for asbestosis, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), rhinitis, sinusitis, and asthma. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was also denied a compensable rating.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities and denied higher ratings for several service-connected conditions.
- Granted
The Board granted a 30 percent disability rating for asthma from August 23, 2021 to May 14, 2022.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a heart condition as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lymphedema and granted an initial 20% rating for a painful and unstable scar on the right mid-shin, effective April 14, 2022. Other claims were remanded.
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