The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric condition, including PTSD due to MST. The Veteran's claim was not supported by competent medical evidence.,Service connection for hepatitis-C and cirrhosis of the liver were also denied as there is no credible evidence linking these conditions to service.,Pulmonary emphysema and COPD were found not related to service, with no in-service diagnosis or exposure to causative agents.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's psychiatric condition was not diagnosed during service and the VA examiner did not find a link between his current symptoms and military service. The Veteran's hepatitis-C and cirrhosis of the liver were not linked to service due to lack of evidence.,There is no credible evidence linking the Veteran’s pulmonary conditions (emphysema and COPD) to service, with no in-service diagnosis or exposure to causative agents.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric condition, Hepatitis C, Cirrhosis of the liver, Emphysema, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19167290
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,319 · Granted: 25% (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 19167290.
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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.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a TDIU with a September 19, 2024 effective date based on his PTSD, emphysema, and COPD symptoms. His diabetes, tinnitus, and left ear hearing loss were not found to prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation prior to March 19, 2024.
- 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.
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