The Veteran's claim for service connection for substance abuse is denied, and his claim for a compensable evaluation for residuals of right hand fracture is remanded.
The deciding factor: There is no competent and credible evidence establishing the current presence of a substance abuse disorder or that it is related to service-connected PTSD. The Veteran's right-hand condition has been rated as noncompensable due to lack of medical records supporting an increased rating.
- Claimed conditions
- substance abuse, residuals of right hand fracture
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19102786
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,569 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19102786.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for memory loss and substance abuse, as well as dismissed appeals regarding an increase in rating for hypertension and a reduction in disability rating for IBS with GERD.
- 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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and a low back disability, but remanded claims for mental health disability, substance abuse, type two diabetes mellitus (DMII), hormonal imbalance, bilateral glaucoma, and left knee disability.
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