Liver disease (hepatitis, cirrhosis) Board decisions

The veteran's appeal was dismissed because he died during the pendency of his appeal, and thus the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this claim.

The Board has determined that the veteran's current diagnosis of hepatic cirrhosis secondary to chronic hepatitis had its onset during his active service, and thus grants service connection for residuals of viral hepatitis.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded for a video conference hearing before the Board of Veterans' Appeals. The RO must schedule this hearing and ensure that notice of it is sent to the correct address.

The veteran's claim for service connection for hepatitis C is being remanded to the RO for further development and consideration.

The Board has granted service connection for hypertension, finding that it is proximately due to the veteran's service-connected atypical erythema multiforme. Service connection for Hepatitis C was not addressed as it does not fall under the scope of this decision.

The Board has remanded the case for further development due to missing SSA medical records. The veteran's claims for service connection are pending.

The Board finds that additional evidence is needed to decide the claim of service connection for hepatitis C, including records from the San Diego Naval Medical Center regarding a possible blood transfusion during hernia surgery and information about risk factors encountered by the veteran during his service.

The Board has remanded the case for further development of evidence, including obtaining a complete copy of the veteran's VA Vocational Rehabilitation file.

The Board dismissed the appeal of the October 2000 denial of service connection for hepatitis C due to a lack of timely filing of a substantive appeal. The claim for an increased rating for infectious hepatitis is remanded for further development.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for post gastrectomy syndrome with psychophysiologic gastrointestinal reaction and hepatitis, finding that the evidence did not meet the criteria for higher evaluations under VA rating criteria. The claim for bilateral hearing loss was not addressed as it had previously been denied.

The Board found that the veteran's hepatitis C and cirrhosis of the liver were not incurred or aggravated during his active military service. The VA examiner concluded that these conditions are more likely related to post-service alcohol abuse, drug use, and blood transfusions.

The Board found that the immediate causes of the veteran's death were delirium tremens with severe alcoholic liver disease and cardiac arrest. The medical evidence did not establish a relationship between these conditions and his military service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for hepatitis and hypertension, as well as his increased ratings for post-operative residuals of splenectomy and splenorenal shunt with hiatal hernia, and portal hypertension. The claim for a total disability evaluation based on individual unemployability was also denied.

The Board has determined that the veteran's hepatitis C did not warrant a rating higher than 30 percent from January 30, 1998 to February 7, 2002 and no more than 60 percent from August 2000 through August 2001. From September 2001 to February 6, 2002, the veteran's hepatitis C did not warrant a rating higher than 30 percent. Since February 7, 2002, the veteran's hepatitis C has not warranted any disability rating.

The VA denied the veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for hepatitis C.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his hepatitis disability, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating prior to April 1996 or from April 1996 to July 2001.

The Board found that the cause of the veteran's death, Laennec's cirrhosis due to alcoholism, was not related to his service and denied the claim for service connection.

The veteran's appeal was dismissed due to his death, and the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of this claim.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim for service connection of Hepatitis C due to new evidence submitted since the last final decision, which includes a VA examination and medical opinions linking the condition to his military service.

The Board has determined that the veteran experienced non-combat related stressors during service and has been diagnosed with PTSD. The claim for Hepatitis C is denied as it was not incurred or aggravated in service.