The Board granted service connection for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with emphysema, finding that the evidence supports a direct link to the Veteran's exposure to fire and burns in service.
The deciding factor: The Board found persuasive the private nexus opinion linking COPD with emphysema to the Veteran's service-related fire and burn exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with emphysema
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- March 14, 2025
- Citation
- A25023825
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 878 · Granted: 36% (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 A25023825.
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 COPD is granted as service connected. The claims for bilateral hearing loss and loss of balance are remanded.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss, but remanded the claim for COPD with emphysema due to insufficient evidence.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have prevented him from securing or following substantial gainful employment since January 1, 2017.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a new VA examination to adequately assess the current severity of the Veteran's service-connected COPD with emphysema.
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