Citation Nr: 21022387
Decision Date: 04/15/21	Archive Date: 04/15/21

DOCKET NO. 17-53 252
DATE: April 15, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for bronchial asthma is granted, subject to the law and regulations governing the payment of monetary benefits. 

FINDING OF FACT

The Veteran’s bronchial asthma is related to an in-service injury or disease. 

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for service connection for bronchial asthma are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. 

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from March 1989 to March 1999. 

This matter comes before the Board of Veteran’s Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2015 rating decision issued by a Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  

In April 2021, the Veteran testified at a virtual Board tele-hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ).  

Entitlement to service connection for bronchial asthma is granted. 

The Veteran contends that her bronchial asthma began in-service.  

The Board finds that the Veteran has a current bronchial asthma disability that began during active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107(b); Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1363, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a).

The Veteran had a VA examination for respiratory conditions in December 2014. The examiner found that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of asthma. Thus, the first element of service connection, a present disability, is met.

The December 2014 examiner noted that the date of diagnosis of asthma was in 1996. The VA examiner, in finding that the Veteran’s asthma began in 1996, apparently found the Veteran’s lay statements regarding the in-service onset of her asthma to be credible. Further, the Board found the Veteran’s April 2021 testimony that her bronchial asthma began in service to be credible. The Veteran is competent to report having asthma symptoms which began in-service. Thus, there is competent and credible evidence that the Veteran’s bronchial asthma onset during her active service. 

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At the April 2021 Board hearing, the Veteran testified that she has been using an inhaler for ongoing problems with asthma since service. The Veteran is competent to report continuation of her asthma symptoms since service, and her testimony is credible. 

Thus, all three elements of service connection are met, and service connection for bronchial asthma is warranted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. Accordingly, service connection for bronchial asthma is granted. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303.

 

Jennifer White

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Susan Leary

The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.