The Board denied service connection for COPD, finding that the Veteran's asthma pre-existed service and was not aggravated by active duty. The Board also found against service connection for COPD due to lack of evidence showing it existed prior to service or being related to exposure during service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that the Veteran’s COPD did not exist prior to service and was less likely caused or aggravated by service, attributing its onset to tobacco smoking rather than exposure to burn pits, oil fires, smoke, or other environmental factors.
- Claimed conditions
- Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20080861
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,836 · Granted: 31% (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 20080861.
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The Veteran's asthma is currently rated as 10 percent disabling, and the Board finds that this rating adequately compensates his service-connected condition.
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The Veteran's asthma is currently rated at 30 percent, and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.,The Veteran's sleep apnea claim has been remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
- Granted
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claim of service connection for COPD due to duty-to-assist errors and a need for a supplemental medical opinion.
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