The Veteran's dominant bile duct stricture and cirrhosis of the liver were not caused by VA carelessness, negligence, or error. The evidence does not support a finding that VA treatment was at fault.
The deciding factor: VA treatment records indicate appropriate medical care with informed consent, and no evidence suggests VA failure to exercise reasonable care.
- Claimed conditions
- Dominant bile duct stricture, cirrhosis of liver
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- November 20, 2019
- Citation
- 19187624
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,797 · Granted: 20% (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 19187624.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
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: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis due to insufficient reasons or bases provided in previous decisions, specifically regarding the presence of haptic encephalopathy and incapacitating episodes.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection for migraines was granted from October 1, 2019. The claims for service connection for cirrhosis of liver and hepatitis C were remanded.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a right knee disability and remanded claims for service connection for hepatitis C, shin splints, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for cirrhosis of liver, coronary artery disease (CAD), and gout was dismissed due to a concurrent election error.
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