Liver disease (hepatitis, cirrhosis) decisions — 2000

The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death and finds it well-grounded. The new evidence, including medical articles linking NSAIDs to gastrointestinal and liver disease, supports a plausible link between the veteran's service-connected ankylosing spondylitis and his death.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including right ear hearing loss, a perforated ear drum, residuals of a right ankle fracture, hepatitis, and other injuries. The RO affirmed these determinations.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for hepatitis A and left leg cramps, as well as his claim for an increased rating for bilateral hearing loss. The veteran was not granted any of these claims.

The Board's decision was vacated due to the veteran's death, and the appeal is dismissed.

The veteran's PTSD is rated at 30 percent, which does not meet the criteria for a higher rating. The veteran's other disabilities do not render him unemployable and thus he is denied a permanent and total disability evaluation for pension purposes.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claims for service connection for bronchitis and hepatitis are not well grounded, as there is no evidence showing a plausible or capable of substantiation.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claims for hepatitis and neuritis of the left side during active duty for training are not well grounded, as there is no medical evidence linking these conditions to the specified periods of service.

The Board found no competent medical evidence linking the veteran's current hepatitis C to his military service, and thus denied the claim of service connection.

The veteran's cause of death was due to arteriosclerotic heart disease and alcoholic liver cirrhosis. The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of death as there is no evidence linking these conditions to his military service. The appellant's request for an increased evaluation for anxiety-state psychoneurosis, which had been pending at the time of her husband's death, was granted with a 10% rating.

The Board has jurisdiction to review the issues of service connection for PTSD and a rating in excess of 10 percent for a deformity of the distal phalanx of the right 3rd finger. The appeal is granted as to these matters.

The veteran's hepatitis with cirrhosis is currently rated at 10 percent, and the Board has determined that a higher rating of 30 percent is warranted based on the severity of his symptoms.

The Board denied service connection for hepatitis C, finding that the evidence did not establish a link between the condition and military service.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining medical opinions and arranging for examinations to address the veteran's psychiatric disorder and hepatitis.

The Board found new and material evidence to reopen the claim, but denied it as not well grounded due to lack of a plausible connection between service-connected conditions and death.

The Board has determined that the claim of service connection for a lower gastrointestinal disorder is not well grounded, and thus denied.

The Board found that hepatitis C was not incurred in or aggravated by active service and denied the claim.

The veteran's appeal is dismissed due to his death. The claim for service connection for hepatitis was reopened based on new and material evidence, but the decision does not specify the outcome of the PTSD or Agent Orange exposure claims.

The VA has granted a 30 percent rating for the veteran's hepatitis, which is currently rated under Diagnostic Code 7345. The disability picture more nearly approximates this level of severity.

The Board found that there is no evidence linking the veteran's death to service-connected conditions or any incident of service. The underlying cause of death was colon cancer, which was not service-connected.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for cirrhosis of the liver and hepatitis C, either on a direct basis or as secondary to exposure to Agent Orange, are not well grounded.