The Board has determined that the appellant's HIV and substance abuse are not service-connected as they resulted from his own willful misconduct.
The deciding factor: Service connection cannot be granted for a disability resulting from a claimant's own alcohol or drug abuse, which includes substance abuse.
- Claimed conditions
- HIV, substance abuse
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 22, 2010
- Citation
- 1047704
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 1047704.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for HIV or an autoimmune disability and denied a rating in excess of 70 percent for PTSD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of HIV to obtain an adequate addendum opinion regarding its relationship to in-service sexual assault or activities.
- 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.
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