The Board has remanded the case due to a failure to obtain service treatment records from Castle Air Force Base regarding the Veteran's 1972 hospitalization for hepatitis C. The RO is instructed to attempt to retrieve these records and provide an addendum opinion on whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's hepatitis C was related to service.
The deciding factor: The failure of the RO to obtain the Castle AFB service treatment records regarding the 1972 hospitalization for hepatitis C, which could potentially relate to the cause of death, constitutes a procedural error and requires remand.
- Claimed conditions
- Hepatitis C
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 28, 2019
- Citation
- 19123142
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,456 · Granted: 23% (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 19123142.
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 denied a compensable initial rating for Hepatitis C, finding that the Veteran's condition was asymptomatic and did not meet the criteria for any higher rating.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's Hepatitis C with cirrhosis is related to service, and therefore grants service connection for these conditions.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's depressive disorder is granted as service-connected, with the Board finding it related to his active duty service and aggravated by his service-connected tibia fractures. The claim for hepatitis C is remanded due to inadequate medical opinions regarding its etiology.,Service connection for depressive disorder is established based on direct evidence of a current disability (depressive disorder) that was incurred during active duty service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected Hepatitis C, lumbar DDD with strain, osteomyelitis, and loss of use of right foot disability rendered him so helpless as to be in need of regular aid and attendance. Effective October 28, 2008, the Veteran meets the criteria for SMC under various provisions.
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