The Board granted service connection for asthma, chronic bronchitis, chronic sinusitis, and chronic allergic rhinitis based on the Veteran's exposure to toxic substances during active service.
The deciding factor: Service connection was granted due to the Veteran's presumed exposure to burn pits and other toxins during her service in Somalia, which is a basis for presumptive service connection under 38 U.S.C. § 1120(b).
- Claimed conditions
- asthma, chronic bronchitis, chronic sinusitis, chronic allergic rhinitis
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2024
- Citation
- A24065879
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 was granted a 70 percent disability rating for unspecified trauma and stressor-related disorder with major depressive disorder, recurrent, and alcohol use disorder in early remission, as well as TDIU due to asthma and SMC at the housebound rate.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including sinusitis, elbows condition, cervical condition, erectile dysfunction, kidney condition, sleep apnea, wrists condition, asthma, shoulders condition, ankles condition, eye condition (bilateral dry macular degeneration), peripheral vascular disease (heart condition), and rhinitis.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a deviated septum and denied compensable ratings for allergic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, hypothyroidism, and hypertension.
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