The Board denied service connection for lung disease, including as due to herbicide exposure, finding that the Veteran's interstitial lung disease was not related to his military service or herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found it less likely than not that the Veteran's interstitial lung disease was caused by herbicide/agent orange exposure, citing a lack of causal relationship between desquamative interstitial pneumonia and herbicide exposure in medical literature.
- Claimed conditions
- Interstitial lung disease, Desquamative interstitial pneumonia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20004048
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.
- Granted
The Board granted a rating of 60 percent for interstitial lung disease, both prior to and from November 10, 2022.
- Denied
The appeal was denied for various claims, including entitlement to a higher rating and earlier effective dates for service-connected conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for interstitial lung disease due to a lack of evidence showing he has a current disability.
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