The Board has granted service connection for a liver disorder on the basis that it is proximately due to or the result of the Veteran's service-connected PTSD. The evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the current liver disorder was caused by alcoholism, which is linked to the service-connected PTSD.
The deciding factor: The Board found reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran and granted secondary service connection for the liver disorder due to the service-connected PTSD.
- Claimed conditions
- liver disorder, fatty liver, mild splenomegaly, alcoholic steatosis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 27, 2020
- Citation
- 20069249
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,200 · Granted: 43% (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 20069249.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims seeking service connection for fatty liver, bilateral upper and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, Bell's Palsy, GERD, neurobehavioral issues, and throat/esophageal cancer have been dismissed due to procedural errors in filing a concurrent election of review options.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors and the need for additional medical opinions regarding his liver disorder, heart disorder, erectile dysfunction, edema, right hip arthritis, and left hip arthritis.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for fatty liver as secondary to his service-connected PTSD with alcohol use disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection on multiple conditions have been remanded due to the submission of new evidence after a prior denial. The Board finds that VA examinations and medical opinions are necessary to properly determine entitlement to service connection.
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