The Veteran's anxiety disorder was found to be related to service, and he is granted service connection for this condition. The rating reduction from 40 percent to 20 percent for cirrhosis of the liver associated with hepatitis C was upheld.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that the Veteran’s anxiety disorder began during service due to his personality issues and substance abuse problems, linking it to a character-behavior disorder diagnosis in service.
- Claimed conditions
- hypertension, left hip condition, right hip condition, tinnitus, headaches, anxiety disorder, cirrhosis of the liver
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- May 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19134460
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,287 · 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 19134460.
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 Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, arthritis, and memory loss. The decision found no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
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