The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as there was no current diagnosis of COPD during or contemporaneous to the pendency of the appeal.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not support a current diagnosis of COPD, and the Veteran is not competent to diagnose this condition. The symptoms he experiences are attributed to his service-connected sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, and asthma.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 6, 2022
- Citation
- 22000704
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Denied
The appeal for service connection for PTSD was dismissed, and the claims for a compensable rating for the lower back scar, service connection for COPD, and peripheral artery disease were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, COPD, a gastrointestinal disability, and migraines due to lack of evidence supporting a link between these conditions and her military service.
- Dismissed
The appeals for service connection and higher initial rating were dismissed due to concurrent election of review options.
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