The Board denied service connection for alcohol dependence, dental disorder, recurrent oral cavity disorder, lymphatic disorder, immune system disorder, liver disorder, and kidney disorder all claimed as due to Camp Lejeune contaminated water exposure. The Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of any of these conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner determined that the Veteran did not have a current diagnosis of alcohol use disorder or any other service-connected condition related to his claims for service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- alcohol dependence, lump on roof of mouth (oral cavity disorder), neck lymph node disorder, back lymph node disorder, arm lymph node disorder, immune system disorder, liver disorder, kidney disorder, recurrent oral cavity disorder, recurring vitamin D and Vitamin B12 deficiency
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20081238
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,549 · Granted: 26% (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 20081238.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate examination and incomplete testing, requiring a new VA examination to determine if the Veteran's immune system disorder is related to service exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error, and will need to obtain an opinion regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability with alcohol dependence.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not prevent him from maintaining employment in the construction industry, and he was able to work with accommodations such as sedentary work and frequent breaks. The Board denied his claim for a TDIU.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for service connection for a kidney disorder is dismissed, and the effective date of his service connection is set at March 29, 2018.
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