The Veteran's pleural plaques are now rated as 60 percent disabling, and the claim for a TDIU is denied.
The deciding factor: The PFTs did not reflect FVC less than 50 percent predicted or DLCO less than 40 percent, so a higher rating was not warranted. The Veteran's pleural plaques alone did not prevent him from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment due to his COPD.
- Claimed conditions
- pleural plaques (claimed as asbestosis)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- July 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19153405
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,421 · Granted: 31% (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 19153405.
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 claim for a compensable rating for his service-connected bilateral hearing loss is dismissed without prejudice.,His claim for a higher rating for pleural plaques, claimed as asbestosis, was denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a rating in excess of 10 percent.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a 10 percent evaluation based on multiple, noncompensable service-connected disabilities is dismissed. The appeals for initial compensable evaluations for bilateral hearing loss and pleural plaques (claimed as asbestosis) are remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for an initial compensable rating for pleural plaques and entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to incomplete development of records.
- Granted
The Board has granted a 100 percent rating for pleural plaques, finding that the Veteran's service-connected condition is responsible for his need for outpatient oxygen therapy. The decision also notes that there was substantial compliance with previous remand directives.
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