The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of a lung condition, finding that there is no competent evidence to establish that his current lung condition either began in service or is related to service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that the Veteran’s emphysematous COPD is not at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including exposure to jet fuel fumes.
- Claimed conditions
- Lung condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2020
- Citation
- 20066998
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 various conditions, including heart condition, lung condition, peripheral neuropathy of both upper and lower extremities, bilateral plantar fasciitis with bone spurs, left kidney cyst, cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis C, migraine, and chronic allergic rhinitis.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 70 percent initial evaluation for the Veteran's service-connected psychiatric disorder and TDIU, but remanded claims for service connection for diabetes, lumbar condition, cervical condition, lung condition, and left and right lower extremity neuropathy.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date of March 10, 2021, for a 70 percent rating for PTSD and denied an increased disability rating in excess of 70 percent for PTSD and service connection for residuals of latent tuberculosis (now also claimed as lung condition).
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for allergies, a lung condition, a sinus condition, and fatigue (characterized as chronic fatigue syndrome) because the evidence did not support finding current disabilities during the pendency of the claims or contemporaneous to their filing.
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