The Veteran's claim for service connection of substance abuse disorder is denied as the evidence does not support a finding that his condition was caused by or related to active service.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not persuasively show that the Veteran's substance abuse disorder was caused by, aggravated by, or otherwise related to active service.
- Claimed conditions
- substance abuse disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 28, 2026
- Citation
- A26039498
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 A26039498.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the claims for service connection due to lack of new and relevant evidence.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal has been dismissed due to a procedural defect involving concurrent elections of review options.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD and depressive disorder are granted secondary to his substance abuse disorder, with a rating of 70 percent effective February 27, 2019. The appeal for an earlier effective date is denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for generalized anxiety disorder and denied service connection for a lower back disorder. The claims for depression, substance abuse disorder, and a compensable initial rating for bilateral hearing loss were dismissed.
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