The Board has granted the Veteran's petition to reopen his claim for service connection for Parkinson’s disease and has determined that it is at least as likely as not related to his in-service exposure to burn pits. The Veteran was exposed to these burn pits while serving in the Southwest Asia Theater of Operations.
The deciding factor: The evidence, including a private medical opinion, supports a finding that the Veteran's Parkinson’s disease is linked to his service due to environmental exposures during his deployment.
- Claimed conditions
- Parkinson’s disease
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 13, 2020
- Citation
- 20002675
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 105 · Granted: 19% (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 20002675.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his claims for increased ratings in multiple conditions, including Parkinson's disease and associated symptoms. The appeals are dismissed.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeals for service connection for prostate cancer, melanoma, Parkinson’s disease, and frontotemporal dementia with Parkinsonism due to herbicide exposure as they are no longer valid since the Veteran died more than four years ago.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for Parkinson’s disease and related symptoms was granted with an effective date of March 1, 2012. The travel voucher submitted by the Veteran in June 2018 provided sufficient information to identify and obtain relevant service records.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for Parkinson’s disease and its secondary complications was granted with an effective date of February 15, 2011.,Service connection for loss of smell secondary to Parkinson’s disease was also granted with an effective date of October 14, 2015.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.