38 U.S.C. § 1110
Section 1110 · Basic entitlement
Amended 6 times on record
Applied in 301 court decisions — leading case Brown v. Gardner (1994)
Most recently applied in Amezquita v. Collins (May 2025)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 38 U.S.C. § 7104 · 38 U.S.C. § 7261 · 38 U.S.C. § 7252
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
For disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in line of duty, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered or disease contracted in line of duty, in the active military, naval, air, or space service, during a period of war, the United States will pay to any veteran thus disabled and who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable from the period of service in which said injury or disease was incurred, or preexisting injury or disease was aggravated, compensation as provided in this subchapter, but no compensation shall be paid if the disability is a result of the veteran's own willful misconduct or abuse of alcohol or drugs.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2021—Pub. L. 116–283 substituted "air, or space service" for "or air service".
1998—Pub. L. 105–178, which directed the substitution of ", abuse of alcohol or drugs, or use of tobacco products" for "or abuse of alcohol or drugs" before the period at end, was amended generally by Pub. L. 105–206, which provided that the amendments made by that section as originally enacted shall be treated for all purposes as not having been made. See Effective Date of 1998 Amendment note below.
1991—Pub. L. 102–83 renumbered section 310 of this title as this section.
1990—Pub. L. 101–508 substituted "a result of the veteran's own willful misconduct or abuse of alcohol or drugs" for "the result of the veteran's own willful misconduct".
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 1998 Amendment
Title IX of Pub. L. 105–206 effective simultaneously with enactment of Pub. L. 105–178 and to be treated as included in Pub. L. 105–178 at time of enactment, and provisions of Pub. L. 105–178 as in effect on day before July 22, 1998, that are amended by title IX of Pub. L. 105–206 to be treated as not enacted, see section 9016 of Pub. L. 105–206, set out as a note under section 101 of Title 23, Highways.
Effective Date of 1990 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 101–508 effective with respect to claims filed after Oct. 31, 1990, see section 8052(b) of Pub. L. 101–508, set out as a note under section 105 of this title.
Construction of 1998 Amendment
Pub. L. 105–206, title IX, §9014(a), July 22, 1998, 112 Stat. 865, provided that section 8202 of Pub. L. 105–178 is amended generally and that the amendments made by that section as originally enacted shall be treated for all purposes as not having been made.