The veteran was granted service connection for Hepatitis C, but the claim for chloracne was denied.
The deciding factor: Hepatitis C was more likely than not due to intravenous drug abuse in Vietnam, which is not considered willful misconduct. Chloracne was not shown within one year of service and there is no current diagnosis of chloracne.
- Claimed conditions
- Chloracne, Hepatitis C
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 27, 2009
- Citation
- 0902697
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 832 · Granted: 18% (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 0902697.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
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.
- Granted
Service connection for GERD is granted and a 10% rating for hypertension is granted.,Disfiguring scars of the face secondary to chloracne are granted with a 30% rating from August 6, 2020. A separate 20% rating for painful scars of the face secondary to chloracne is granted. From June 19, 2025, a higher rating for disfiguring scars of the face and painful scars of the right groin secondary to chloracne are denied.,An increased 20% rating for chloracne is granted.
- 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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