The Board has granted the reopening of the veteran's claims for service connection for alcoholism and lumbosacral strain (claimed as a back condition), finding that new evidence submitted since the May 1976 denial relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate these claims.
The deciding factor: The newly received medical records, including those documenting the veteran's struggle with alcoholism and his current status of remission, relate to an unestablished fact (alcoholism) necessary to substantiate the claim for service connection. The evidence regarding lumbosacral strain is considered material as it relates to a previously established fact (back condition).
- Claimed conditions
- Alcoholism, Lumbosacral Strain (claimed as a back condition)
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 12, 2004
- Citation
- 0412374
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 407 · Granted: 23% (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 0412374.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for PTSD was dismissed due to an improper concurrent election of review options, and the claim for alcoholism was denied as a matter of law.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for PTSD beginning March 16, 2010 and denied a motion for revision of an August 2007 rating decision on the basis of clear and unmistakable error (CUE). The Board also granted service connection for alcoholism, major depressive disorder, congestive heart failure, cardiomyopathy, sleep apnea, and increased ratings for PTSD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder due to a lack of a VA medical examination and opinion prior to rating his disability. The Veteran is diagnosed with multiple psychiatric disabilities, including depression, anxiety, irritability and anger, trauma/stressor-related disorder, and alcoholism. The Board requires a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to an inadequate VA medical opinion regarding the cause of death and its relation to service-connected conditions.
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