The Board denied service connection for hepatitis C with fibrosis of the liver and COPD and asthma, finding that there was no causal relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's active duty service. The Board noted multiple in-service risk factors including drug use but also post-service risk factors such as incarceration and continued drug use.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that hepatitis C was less likely than not incurred during service due to pre-existing risk factors, particularly long periods of incarceration and continued drug use after separation from active duty.
- Claimed conditions
- Hepatitis C with fibrosis of the liver, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2020
- Citation
- 20070107
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,156 · Granted: 29% (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 20070107.
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