The Board granted service connection for COPD under the PACT Act and remanded issues related to direct service connection for COPD, sleep apnea, and bilateral hearing loss.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's COPD is presumed to be associated with his service in Southwest Asia due to exposure to burn pits or other toxins as per the PACT Act.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Sleep apnea, Bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2024
- Citation
- 24001675
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic headaches, CFS, dermatosis, bilateral RLS, a lumbar spine disability, and sleep apnea but denied a compensable evaluation for allergic rhinitis.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, as there was no evidence of a current disability in the right ear and insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the left ear hearing loss and service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a medical clarification regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected epilepsy has aggravated his bilateral hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's lay statements regarding in-service acoustic trauma and a rocket blast injury.
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