The Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability is denied.,The Veteran's claims for service connection for COPD and asthma are denied.,Since new and material evidence has been submitted, the Veteran's claim to reopen his previously denied claim of service connection for a nervous condition is granted.
The deciding factor: There is no probative evidence linking bilateral hearing loss disability or respiratory disabilities (COPD and asthma) to service.,The Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of COPD or asthma that can be linked to his service, including exposure to herbicides like Agent Orange.,New evidence submitted since the last final denial in 1966 raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim for a nervous condition.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss disability, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20065912
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 20065912.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's respiratory disability, including asthma and COPD, is denied as service connection is not warranted due to the condition being solely attributed to smoking.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the cases of sleep apnea and asthma due to a failure to provide proper notice for a hearing.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection for asthma and a 10 percent rating based on multiple noncompensable service-connected disabilities were dismissed. The claim of entitlement to a compensable rating for eczema was denied, while the claim of entitlement to allergic rhinitis was not addressed as it pertained to different issues.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to secure and follow substantially gainful employment prior to August 14, 2023.
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