The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a hepatic disorder, including alcoholic cirrhosis, chronic liver disease, and fatty liver disease. The Board found that the Veteran's current hepatic disorders are due to his alcohol consumption and not related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that the Veteran’s cirrhosis is less likely as not caused by or a result of fatty liver and hepatic cyst that occurred in April/May 2012, and noted that after a review of the literature that fatty liver is a consequence of cirrhosis.
- Claimed conditions
- hepatic disorder, alcoholic cirrhosis, chronic liver disease, fatty liver disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19149518
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 19149518.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Dismissed
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error that occurred prior to the rating decision on appeal. The Veteran's fatty liver disease, post-liver transplant, is being remanded for an addendum opinion addressing the etiology of his liver disorders before and after his liver transplant.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for paresthesias of the hands, hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia, and fatty liver disease is remanded due to a failure to provide an examination regarding the nature and etiology of these conditions.
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