The Board remanded the claims for service connection for nicotine, cocaine, and alcohol substance-related disorders due to inadequate medical opinions and missing records.

The deciding factor: The Board found that the examiner's opinions did not adequately address whether the veteran's substance use disorders were related to service or aggravated by service-connected conditions.

Claimed conditions

nicotine substance-related disorder, cocaine substance-related disorder, alcohol substance-related disorder

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

None in this decision

Decision date

January 23, 2025

Citation

25000949

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