The Veteran's claim for an increased rating higher than 30 percent for autoimmune hepatitis with history of hepatic encephalopathy is denied. The Board found that the Veteran's symptoms do not warrant a higher rating based on aggravation, and her condition does not meet the criteria for any other specific rating under Diagnostic Code 7312.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms did not meet or approximate the criteria for a higher rating than 30 percent as they did not include two or more episodes of ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, or hemorrhage from varices or portal gastropathy (erosive gastritis).
- Claimed conditions
- autoimmune hepatitis, hepatic encephalopathy
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- June 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19144351
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (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 19144351.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
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- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and therefore his surviving spouse is denied entitlement to service connection for the cause of his death.
- Denied
The Veteran's spouse is denied eligibility for a VA home loan guaranty benefit due to the absence of service-connected disabilities and the death not being caused by a service-connected condition.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for autoimmune hepatitis and rheumatoid arthritis, both found to be related to the Veteran's in-service toxic exposures at Camp Lejeune.
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