The Veteran's lung disorder, including interstitial lung disease and pulmonary fibrosis, was not incurred during service and is unrelated to service. The Board found the evidence against a direct link between the Veteran's lung disorder and his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no evidence of asbestosis in the Veteran's case, which contradicted the favorable opinions linking the lung disorder to Agent Orange exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Interstitial lung disease, Pulmonary fibrosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 16, 2019
- Citation
- 19178789
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development and re-adjudication due to an incomplete records search regarding potential service in Vietnam and inadequate explanation of why certain diagnoses were combined.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the claims for service connection for various conditions due to untimeliness of the Veteran's VA Form 10182 or as moot, and remanded the claim for diabetes mellitus type II.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher disability rating and service connection for pulmonary fibrosis, GERD, and sinusitis.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, finding no evidence linking his lung cancer and other contributing causes to active duty or exposure at Camp Lejeune.
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