The Board granted an initial 60 percent disability rating for pleural thickening, effective May 17, 2018.
The deciding factor: PFT results met the criteria for a 60 percent rating under Diagnostic Code 6845.
- Claimed conditions
- pleural thickening
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- May 27, 2025
- Citation
- 25007136
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 709 · Granted: 38% (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 25007136.
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.
- Partly granted
The veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension was granted, but the claim for COPD was denied. The issue of a compensable rating for pleural thickening was remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's shortness of breath with pleurisy and pleural thickening is related to multiple bouts of pneumonia during his service, which resulted in a current disability. The Board granted service connection for these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for right lung nodules, left lung nodules, pleural thickening, and pulmonary fibrosis due to pre-decisional failures of duty to assist in obtaining missing service treatment records and inadequate examinations. The VA is required to undertake additional efforts to obtain these records and prepare a TERA memorandum addressing the Veteran's exposure to herbicide agents (Agent Orange) and asbestos in service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to incomplete development and the need for additional medical examinations. The Veteran's pulmonary disability, including pleural thickening and effusion, is being reviewed further.
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