Hepatitis

[LeroyJohnson]

I am working on several health issues for a veteran friend of mine and I am hoping someone can answer something for me. She had hepatitis when she was 12, she served 6 years and in her 5th year of service she began to have liver problems. developed jaundice once and several tests came back showing abnormal liver functions. This was back in the 70's she is now having big time problems with her liver.

MY question is since the army accepted her knowing she had had hepatitis as a child and had no problems for the first 5 years of service would it even get off the ground if I filed for the liver for her?

Also her records show that for some reason she began loosing all the enamel from her teeth needed tons of dental work done while in service and still had dental problems when she left military service do you think I should file for dental care or would that be a waste of time. She is not service connected for anything at this time.

thanks Leroy

[Hoppy]

DON20926

In this case she displayed symptoms that might be consistent with hep while on active duty. The exact cause is less of an issue when symptoms develop while serving in the armed forces. If the disease is considered chronic or symptoms have continuity post service then service connection can be granted without identifying an exact cause.

[LeroyJohnson]

Thanks Hoppy,

She most definitely has all the same symptoms today as she did then and this is 28 years later (I should say the symptoms have continued for the last 28 years)

[dock671]

My husband was approved service connection for Hepatitis C due to the air guns in late 2004. So the V.A. has approved more than one claim due to airguns, we based his claim on the first one, a Tiger Team decision out of Ohio. There are more, just something the V.A. defintely doesn't want to advertise B)

Mark passed away April 10 from liver failure due to hepatitis c, after a couple of years of misery and pain. His drs. said he had had it at least 20 years which dated it back to his time in the Army. He drank beer his whole adult life, but the beer alone would not have killed him, and he did not find out he had the hep until 2003. He was only 44, and we have four kids.

Check out www.hcvets.com they are a wealth of information. Also a message board, you can find it somewhere on the homepage that link takes you to.

And anyone that served, please get tested even if you don't think you have any of the risk factors. The V.A. does not list all of the possible risk factors, and imply it is a druggie disease, so a lot of guys we know don't think they are at risk. If you read the above website, you will see how many more veterans have it than the general population.

Lori