BVA9503083 DOCKET NO. 93-02 577 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in San Diego, California THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for a lung condition secondary to exposure to asbestos. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: California Department of Veterans Affairs WITNESSES AT HEARING ON APPEAL The appellant and his wife. ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Patrick J. Costello, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran had active military service from January 1942 to October 1945, and from February 1950 to February 1966. This matter came before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (hereinafter the Board) on appeal from a July 1991 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO), in San Diego, California, which denied the veteran's claim for entitlement to service connection for a lung condition secondary to exposure to asbestos. After obtaining additional evidence in this case consisting of information from a medical text, the Board, in accordance with Thurber v. Brown, 5 Vet.App. 119 (1993), notified the veteran's representative of this development in a December 6, 1994 letter, enclosing a copy of the medical text and providing a 60-day opportunity for the representative to respond. CONTENTIONS OF APPELLANT ON APPEAL The veteran contends that he was exposed to asbestos in service, and currently has a lung disability which has been diagnosed as secondary to asbestos exposure. He therefore requests that the Board reverse the decision of the RO which denied his claim for service connection for this condition. DECISION OF THE BOARD The Board, in accordance with the provisions of 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104 (West 1991), has reviewed and considered all of the evidence and material of record in the veteran's claims file. Based on its review of the relevant evidence in this matter, and for the following reasons and bases, it is the decision of the Board that the evidence supports a grant of service connection for a lung disability secondary to exposure to asbestos. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. All relevant evidence necessary for an equitable disposition of the veteran's appeal has been obtained by the agency of original jurisdiction. 2. Bilateral pleural plaques may be reasonably related to exposure to asbestos in service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The veteran's lung condition secondary to exposure to asbestos was incurred in active service. 38 U.S.C.A. § 1110, 5107 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (1993). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION In accordance with 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107 (West 1991), and Murphy v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 78 (1990), the appellant has presented a well-grounded claim. The facts relevant to this appeal have been properly developed and the obligation of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to assist the veteran in the development of his claim has been satisfied. Id. Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1110 (West 1991), compensation will be provided if it is shown that the veteran suffers from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. In addition, service-connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all of the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d) (1993). The veteran served in the US Navy for nearly 20 years, and according to service personnel records, he was a welder/shipfitter/locksmith. All of these occupations were below deck where he could have experienced daily contact with asbestos. The Board has considered the statements by the veteran concerning his exposure to asbestos, and finds that he did suffer from such exposure while in the Navy. Asbestos-related lung disease typically is first clinically manifested decades after the exposure. Characteristic manifestations of asbestosis are restrictive lung disease and interstitial pulmonary fibrosis, which may be evidenced by dyspnea, cough, and basal rales. The most common manifestation of exposure to asbestos is the presence of pleural plaques. See Mossman and Gee, Asbestos-Related Diseases, 320 New Eng. J. of Med., at 1725-6 (1989). Following the veteran's application for VA benefits secondary to his exposure to asbestos, he underwent a VA examination in June 1991. X-ray films revealed bilateral pleural plaques and pleural thickening. Also noted were some interstitial markings in the lungs. The findings were interpreted as compatible with both old granulomatous disease and asbestos exposure. However, because the veteran tested normal for spirometry, volumes, and diffusion on a pulmonary function test of June 1991, service connection for a lung disability secondary to exposure to asbestos was not granted. The RO, in its Rating Decision of July 11, 1991, acknowledged the veteran's exposure to asbestos but denied service connection because there was not a diagnosis of a residual disease process. That is, because a specific disability was not present, service connection was not granted. Since that decision, VA has explicitly made provision for rating pleural plaques and now considers that abnormality alone a disability for compensation purposes. VA Adjudication Procedure Manual, M21-1, 7.68(d)(2) (Sept. 21, 1992). Thus, a diagnosis of asbestosis or of an asbestosis-related disease is not necessary for a grant of service connection. Although he also has a co- existing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, x-ray films have confirmed that an element of asbestos-related lung disease is also present. In determining whether service connection is warranted, the VA must determine whether the evidence supports the claim or is in relative equipoise, with the veteran prevailing in either event, or whether the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim, in which case service connection must be denied. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107 (West 1991); Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 49 (1990). We find that the evidence supports the veteran's claim, and thus entitlement to service connection for a lung disability secondary to exposure to asbestos is warranted. ORDER Service connection for a lung condition secondary to exposure to asbestos is granted. BETTINA S. CALLAWAY Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals The Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 103-271, § 6, 108 Stat. 740, ___ (1994), permits a proceeding instituted before the Board to be assigned to an individual member of the Board for a determination. This proceeding has been assigned to an individual member of the Board. NOTICE OF APPELLATE RIGHTS: Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7266 (West 1991), a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals granting less than the complete benefit, or benefits, sought on appeal is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals within 120 days from the date of mailing of notice of the decision, provided that a Notice of Disagreement concerning an issue which was before the Board was filed with the agency of original jurisdiction on or after November 18, 1988. Veterans' Judicial Review Act, Pub. L. No. 100-687, § 402 (1988). The date which appears on the face of this decision constitutes the date of mailing and the copy of this decision which you have received is your notice of the action taken on your appeal by the Board of Veterans' Appeals.