The Veteran's asthma and rhinitis are granted service connection as they had their onset during active duty and are caused by in-service toxic exposure. The cardiovascular disorder is remanded for further examination.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's respiratory disabilities (asthma and rhinitis) met the criteria for service connection due to a private medical opinion linking them to his in-service toxic exposures, while the heart disability was deemed insufficiently supported by evidence of treatment during service.
- Claimed conditions
- asthma, rhinitis, cardiovascular disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2024
- Citation
- 24001652
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,500 · Granted: 29% (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 24001652.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's tinnitus is granted as service connected. The issues of foot disability and cardiovascular disorder are remanded for additional development.
- 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.
- Denied
The Veteran's rhinitis and gastric ulcer with hiatal hernia were evaluated, but the Board found that neither condition warranted a higher rating.,For rhinitis, the evidence did not show greater than 50 percent obstruction of both nasal passages or complete obstruction on one side. For gastric ulcer with hiatal hernia, symptoms were described as infrequent and mild.
- 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.
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