The Veteran's opioid use disorder is found to be secondary to his service-connected lumbar spine disability. The skin disorder is not related to service, and the bilateral hearing loss is found to have onset in service.
The deciding factor: Service connection for opioid use disorder was granted as secondary to the service-connected lumbar spine disability due to evidence of chemical dependency resulting from prescribed pain medication used to treat the back condition. Service connection for a skin disorder was denied because there is no evidence that the current diagnosis is related to an in-service injury or disease, and the weight of the evidence demonstrates an acute episode resolving prior to service separation.
- Claimed conditions
- Opioid Use Disorder, Skin Disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- December 27, 2017
- Citation
- 1760446
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 1760446.
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
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