The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of HIV, finding that there is no evidence linking his HIV to any in-service event or condition.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that the Veteran contracted HIV from polysubstance drug use post-military period rather than from a claimed sexual assault during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19192290
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 19192290.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection for HIV, secondary to his PTSD with anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder, was granted. Additionally, an increased rating of 100 percent for PTSD was granted from February 17, 2021.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for lichen sclerosis of the penis and denied an effective date prior to September 22, 2021, for the award of service connection for HIV as well as an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for HIV.
- Granted
The Board granted an initial 10 percent rating for HIV, effective from April 26, 2022.
- Denied
The Board denied entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death, as there was no evidence linking the Veteran's HIV to his military service.
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