The Veteran's claim for service connection for COPD has been reopened and granted, with a 50% rating effective as of an earlier date. Other claims remain pending.
The deciding factor: New evidence established that the Veteran currently has COPD, which is related to his active duty service at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base (RTAFB).
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), asthma, diabetes mellitus, type II, coccidioidomycosis, PTSD with major depressive disorder and panic disorder with agoraphobia, glaucoma, migraines, low back disability
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- December 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19190943
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,669 · Granted: 23% (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 19190943.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for migraines was reopened due to new evidence. Service connection is granted for painful scars, but the rating assigned remains at 10 percent. The claims for fibromyalgia and bilateral shoulder disability are denied.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea, finding that there was no evidence of a chronic disease manifesting within one year after service and concluding that the current disability is not related to his in-service deviated septum.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development regarding the Veteran's claim of service connection for sleep apnea. The Veteran will be provided with a VA examination to determine if his current sleep disorder is related to his military service.
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