The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate medical opinions regarding service connection for COPD and other respiratory disorders. The claim is expanded to include any respiratory condition, including COPD.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion was found to be inadequate as it did not consider the Veteran’s probable asbestos exposure over 26 months aboard the USS Princeton and the presence of restrictive lung changes in pulmonary function tests from March 2000.
- Claimed conditions
- respiratory disorder, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20001034
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,863 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 20001034.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Denied
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- Dismissed
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