The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the veteran's claim of service connection for hepatitis C. The Board finds that the veteran was exposed to blood in Vietnam, which may have resulted in his chronic hepatitis C infection. Therefore, service connection is granted for hepatitis C.
The deciding factor: The veteran engaged in combat with the enemy and has alleged that a disease - hepatitis C - was incurred in service due to exposure to blood and/or receiving a transfusion during service. The Board found this plausible given the veteran's statements and testimony regarding his service experiences, and resolved all reasonable doubt in favor of the veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- hepatitis C
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 29, 2005
- Citation
- 0532132
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 0532132.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has expanded the scope of the claim for major depression to encompass any mental health disability raised by the record and has remanded six issues for additional development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for COPD, PTSD, hepatitis C, TDIU, and temporary total disability evaluation due to a failure to address his timely request for higher-level review of the July 2018 rating decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for diabetes, gum disease, hypertension, orthopedic foot disorder, left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, hepatitis C, skin disorder of the feet (claimed as trench foot), and an acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as depression and anxiety) due to errors in duty to assist.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for hepatitis C and its secondary effects on other conditions, including cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes mellitus type II, esophageal varices, hepatic encephalopathy, and splenomegaly.
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