The Board denied service connection for post-traumatic stress disorder, chloracne, and a skin rash other than chloracne due to herbicide exposure. The veteran's claimed in-service stressors were not substantiated, and there is no credible supporting evidence that the current conditions are related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the veteran did not engage in combat with the enemy during his Vietnam service and thus could not establish his claimed in-service stressors. The evidence also failed to corroborate the occurrence of the claimed stressors, making it impossible to link any current conditions to service.
- Claimed conditions
- post-traumatic stress disorder, chloracne, skin rash
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 5, 2003
- Citation
- 0302238
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 0302238.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right and left ankle disabilities, a skin rash, and denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, shortness of breath, PTSD, OSA, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, knee disabilities, CPS, and earlier effective dates.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors, including inadequate VA examinations and failure to obtain etiological opinions.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for a fatigue disability and remanded several other claims, but granted an increased evaluation of 50 percent for the Veteran's migraine headaches.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development, including obtaining additional medical opinions and private treatment records.
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