The veteran's arthritis of the hands was not present in service or within one year thereafter, and there is no evidence linking it to his active duty. The kidney disability claim is denied as there is no current diagnosis. Hepatitis C was diagnosed based on positive blood tests but without a clear link to service. Liver disability is also denied due to lack of current diagnosis.,The veteran's kidney disability has not been shown to be related to service, and the liver disability is not currently present or linked to his hepatitis C.
The deciding factor: Service records do not show any evidence of arthritis, kidney disability, or liver issues. The veteran's current diagnoses are not supported by medical evidence linking them to his active duty service.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis, bilateral hands, Hepatitis C, Kidney disability, Liver disability
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 13, 2004
- Citation
- 0401128
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,500 · Granted: 17% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0401128.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied a compensable initial rating for Hepatitis C, finding that the Veteran's condition was asymptomatic and did not meet the criteria for any higher rating.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's Hepatitis C with cirrhosis is related to service, and therefore grants service connection for these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's liver disability has not resulted in any compensable symptoms, as he had a previous history of liver disease but is currently asymptomatic.,The Veteran's left ear hearing loss has been rated at noncompensable level due to the absence of more than Level I hearing acuity.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's depressive disorder is granted as service-connected, with the Board finding it related to his active duty service and aggravated by his service-connected tibia fractures. The claim for hepatitis C is remanded due to inadequate medical opinions regarding its etiology.,Service connection for depressive disorder is established based on direct evidence of a current disability (depressive disorder) that was incurred during active duty service.
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