The Board has determined that the Veteran's diagnosed alcohol use disorder is aggravated by his service-connected unspecified trauma and stressor related disorder, thus granting service connection for this condition.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows a current diagnosis of alcohol use disorder which was associated with the service-connected unspecified trauma and stressor related disorder, indicating it was aggravated by that condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Alcohol Use Disorder
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19103553
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 961 · Granted: 20% (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 19103553.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's PTSD is related to fear of hostile military or terrorist activity in Vietnam, and his alcohol use disorder is due to his PTSD. Service connection for PTSD with alcohol use disorder has been granted.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for PTSD with alcohol use disorder was denied, and he was granted a TDIU. The Board found that the symptoms did not meet criteria for a 100% disability rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical evidence regarding the Veteran's PTSD and bipolar disorder, as well as a failure to provide an adequate VA examination prior to the rating decision.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, unspecified depressive disorder, alcohol use disorder, and cocaine use disorder due to a lack of evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
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