The Board denied the Veteran's claim of service connection for hepatitis C, finding that new and material evidence had not been received to reopen his previously denied claim. The Board also found that there was no direct evidence linking the Veteran's current diagnosis of hepatitis C to his active military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that the Veteran's hepatitis C is not at least as likely as not related to air gun inoculation during service, and provided a rationale based on medical literature. The Board found this opinion more probative than the Veteran's treating physician’s unsupported opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- hepatitis C
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 3, 2014
- Citation
- 1414587
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 1414587.
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 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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