The Veteran's substance abuse disorder, including alcohol and cocaine abuse, is not found to be proximately due to or the result of his service-connected depression. The Veteran has been diagnosed with hepatitis C, but it is not related to his in-service use of intravenous drugs and/or intranasal cocaine.
The deciding factor: The VA addendum medical opinions concluded that the substance abuse disorder was not caused by the service-connected depression and that the hepatitis C is not related to the Veteran's in-service drug use.
- Claimed conditions
- substance abuse disorder, alcohol and cocaine abuse, hepatitis C
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 21, 2017
- Citation
- 1705136
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 1705136.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection of substance abuse disorder is denied as the evidence does not support a finding that his condition was caused by or related to active service.
- 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.
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