The Board found that service connection for substance abuse is not warranted as it does not meet the criteria of direct service connection due to lack of evidence showing a nexus between current substance abuse and military service.
The deciding factor: Direct service connection was precluded by law, as service medical records did not show chronic alcoholism or drug abuse during service. The veteran's claimed substance abuse disorder is not proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- substance abuse
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 8, 2004
- Citation
- 0414776
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,643 · Granted: 15% (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 0414776.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for memory loss and substance abuse, as well as dismissed appeals regarding an increase in rating for hypertension and a reduction in disability rating for IBS with GERD.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for depression and substance abuse, finding no evidence of a relationship to the Veteran's military service or any service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for prostate cancer, major depressive disorder, sleep apnea, headaches, substance abuse, and chronic pain syndrome as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by the Veteran's active service, including exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and a low back disability, but remanded claims for mental health disability, substance abuse, type two diabetes mellitus (DMII), hormonal imbalance, bilateral glaucoma, and left knee disability.
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