The Board denied the claim for service connection for liver damage, as there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between the disability and the Veteran's military service.
The deciding factor: The record does not reflect any in-service exposure to radiation or other toxic substances that could have caused the Veteran's liver disorder, which first appeared nearly 35 years after his separation from service.
- Claimed conditions
- liver damage
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 16, 2025
- Citation
- 25012982
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,035 · Granted: 30% (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 25012982.
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 two issues: service connection for hepatitis C and liver damage, to include as secondary to hepatitis C. The remand is due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding the etiology of these conditions in relation to toxic exposure risk activities (TERA) during service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and remanded several service connection claims.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection and increased rating claims, resulting in the dismissal of all issues.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded the claims for liver and right lung damage to correct duty to assist errors. The VA needs to obtain outstanding treatment records.
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