The Board denied service connection for a respiratory disability, finding that the Veteran did not have evidence of exposure to herbicide agents and that his current COPD is not related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service treatment records were silent for any respiratory problems, and there was no medical or lay evidence linking his current COPD to service. The Board found insufficient evidence to warrant a VA examination as the claim did not meet the low threshold required by McLendon v. Nicholson.
- Claimed conditions
- COPD, pulmonary embolism, pulmonary hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 3, 2020
- Citation
- A20017921
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for COPD, finding that the evidence does not support a link between the Veteran's respiratory condition and his military service, including exposure to Agent Orange.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions and a TDIU, as the evidence did not support a finding that any of these disabilities were related to the Veteran's military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's COPD precluded him from obtaining and maintaining substantial gainful employment, warranting a Total Disability Rating Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU).
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for pulmonary hypertension as secondary to the Veteran's already service-connected idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
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