This is what most claims today look like. You have here a vet who went active for a year and basically did stateside service. He claimed to have had hep before service and claimed he was sick in service with hep C as well. He has no medrecs to support his claim. Most importantly the VA asked him to submit evidence that would show his hep was SC, a nexus, something anything. He gave them SSA records that said he was disabled – but not by HCV. Dentist medrecs simply said he was difficult to treat because of hep. Not one bit of evidence he submitted said it was SC and no nexus. He gave them the pics of air guns, the internet stuff, and more. Not one thing said he got hep in service. Most notably, VA was quick to step in with a NEXUS of their own that said it was “not likely” he got it in service and that it was “most likely” due to his tattoo marks which he got before service. So, the VET got HCV when he was 14(in 1964) in Muskogee, Oklahoma from tattoos . It didn’t get worse and he was never ill during service. It got worse in 1997 and it has absolutely nothing to do with the VA. The last phrase of the VLJ is very telling of so many VA claims. In essense, what he said is that you the VET, cannot play doctor and diagnose yourself. You cannot repeat what the doctor told you about your illness. You can testify about nothing medical-period. Zip. Zero. NADA. Your VSO should know this. Most don’t seem to get it. It’s useless. The VLJ will let you sit there and testify until you are blue in the face and then say “Thank you for your testimony today, sir.” You get to read about Espiritu vs. Derwinski (CAVC- 1992) and how you wasted your time when they mail this decision back to you 6 months later. This gentleman had a shaky claim to begin with as he freely admits to hep before service. If that is true, the law(38 CFR) say the hep must have gotton worse in service or that service made the hep worse medically. He also would need a doctor to state that in a nexus letter. He tried to make a case with the jet guns but his doctor didn’t mention that. This claim mirrors lots of others you will read. I hope this helps more VETS get educated on this process and get the win ratio up to 50% successful.

http://www.va.gov/vetapp06/Files3/0618424.txt