The Board has granted service connection for a right arm scar, finding that it is at least as likely as not secondary to the chronic use of drugs and infections coinciding with drug injection during active duty service.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the Veteran's right arm scar was due to removal of his cephalic vein during active duty service as a result of complications of treatment for bacteremia, which was in turn a result of self-injected drugs.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Arm Scar
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- August 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19163374
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,170 · Granted: 38% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19163374.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board allowed the benefit or issue identified in this decision. Review the original order: other issues in the same appeal may have a different outcome, and this decision does not predict another claim.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board denied ratings in excess of the current levels for allergic rhinitis, hypertension, and noncompensable right arm and left hand thumb scars. However, it granted separate 10 percent ratings for painful right and left hand thumb scars under Diagnostic Code 7804.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's claim for a compensable disability rating for his mid-chest scar prior to November 26, 2019 is dismissed. The Board grants the TDIU from July 22, 2011 to November 25, 2019 based on the combined effects of his service-connected disabilities.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's employment as a machinist laborer from 2002 to 2014 was considered substantially gainful employment, and he did not meet the criteria for an earlier effective date of TDIU prior to May 1, 2014.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has determined that there is no competent and credible evidence to support the Veteran's claim of a right arm scar being incurred in service. The preponderance of the evidence does not support this claim.
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