The Veteran's hepatitis C with cirrhosis was not shown to have been present during service, nor is it shown to be related to any in-service occurrence or event.
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence that the Veteran contracted hepatitis C during service and the VA examiner stated she could not determine how the Veteran contracted hepatitis C without resorting to mere speculation.
- Claimed conditions
- hepatitis C with cirrhosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 16, 2009
- Citation
- 0909619
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,642 · Granted: 19% (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 0909619.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's hepatitis C with cirrhosis and necrotizing fasciitis status post skin graft have been remanded for further examination to determine their current severity. The TDIU claim is also remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's hepatitis C with cirrhosis was rated at 20 percent prior to June 14, 2013 and remains rated at 20 percent from June 14, 2013 to March 31, 2014.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for hepatitis C with cirrhosis and a TDIU due to service-connected disabilities has been denied. The Veteran is currently rated at 40 percent for Raynaud's phenomenon, but the evidence does not support a higher rating under Diagnostic Code 7117.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for hepatitis C with cirrhosis of the liver is being remanded due to incomplete records and need for further examination.
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