The Board finds that the Veteran's current hepatitis C and head injury residuals are not service-connected due to lack of evidence supporting in-service exposure. The claim for hepatitis C is denied as there is no credible evidence linking it to active duty, while the claim for head injury residuals is granted based on a history consistent with his military service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service treatment records do not show any blood transfusions during active duty, and he reported having multiple sexual partners in 1996 when diagnosed with hepatitis C. The Board finds these statements more credible than the later assertions of receiving a blood transfusion while on active duty.
- Claimed conditions
- Hepatitis C, Residuals of head injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 9, 2012
- Citation
- 1238474
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 1238474.
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.
- 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
The Board has granted the Veteran's request to readjudicate his claims for service connection for PTSD (claimed as schizophrenia), headaches, and schizophrenia. The claim for memory loss and residuals of head injury remains denied due to lack of new and relevant evidence.
- 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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