What can I claim secondary to cholelithiasis?
5 conditions in the Repatriation Medical Authority's Statements of Principles list cholelithiasis as a factor. If DVA has accepted your cholelithiasis, each of these has a documented pathway to a further claim.
At a glance
- Accepted conditionCholelithiasis
- Conditions it may open5
- SourceRMA SoPs
- Chart Review$600 + GST
How a secondary claim works
Some Statement of Principles factors are not about service at all — they name another condition. Where DVA has already accepted your cholelithiasis, and another condition's SoP lists cholelithiasis as a factor, that part of the next claim is already established on your file. How a secondary claim works, in full →
Conditions that list cholelithiasis as a factor
Quoted from the instrument. A pathway existing is not the same as a claim succeeding — each factor carries thresholds your record has to satisfy.
Acute pancreatitis
RH No. 5 of 2020 · BoP No. 6 of 2020
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (3): “having cholelithiasis at the time of the clinical onset of acute pancreatitis” [clinical onset]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (3): “having cholelithiasis at the time of the clinical onset of acute pancreatitis” [clinical onset]
Chronic pancreatitis
RH No. 64 of 2020 · BoP No. 65 of 2020
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (5): “having cholelithiasis at the time of the clinical onset of chronic pancreatitis” [clinical onset]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (5): “having cholelithiasis at the time of the clinical onset of chronic pancreatitis” [clinical onset]
Gallstone disease (cholelithiasis)
RH No. 69 of 2025 · BoP No. 70 of 2025
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (26): “inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for gallstone disease (cholelithiasis) before clinical worsening” [worsening]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (23): “inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for gallstone disease (cholelithiasis) before clinical worsening” [worsening]
Malignant neoplasm of the bile duct
RH No. 53 of 2024 · BoP No. 54 of 2024
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (4): “having cholelithiasis, choledocholithiasis or hepatolithiasis before clinical onset” [clinical onset]
Balance of Probabilities — factor (4): “having cholelithiasis, choledocholithiasis or hepatolithiasis before the clinical onset of malignant neoplasm of the bile duct” [clinical onset]
Note: Cholelithiasis relates to the formation of stones in the gallbladder, choledocholithiasis relates to stones in the bile ducts, and hepatolithiasis relates to stones in the bile ducts inside the liver.
Malignant neoplasm of the pancreas
RH No. 103 of 2021 · BoP No. 104 of 2021
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (10): “having cholelithiasis or having undergone a cholecystectomy at least 2 years before the clinical onset of malignant neoplasm of the pancreas” [clinical onset]
This factor appears in the Reasonable Hypothesis instrument only, which applies to operational service.
Other accepted conditions that also open acute pancreatitis
If any of these is also on your file, it reaches some of the same conditions cholelithiasis does.
What DVA means by cholelithiasis
A claim is tested against the definition first. If the diagnosis on your file does not meet this wording, the factors below never get reached — so it is worth checking that what your doctor wrote matches what the instrument requires.
Cholelithiasis, for the purposes of the Statement of Principles, for the purposes of this Statement of Principles, cholelithiasis means the aggregation of bile constituents into a stone or calculus with a diameter exceeding two millimetres, in the gallbladder or in the intrahepatic or extrahepatic bile ducts; and which may present as biliary colic. (3) While cholelithiasis attracts ICD-10-AM code K80, in applying this Statement of Principles the meaning of cholelithiasis is that given in subsection (2). (4) For subsection (3), a reference to an ICD-10-AM code is a reference to the code assigned to a particular kind of injury or disease in The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM), Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 Ninth Edition, effective date of 1 July 2015, copyrighted by the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, ISBN 978-1-76007-020-5.
Aggravation-only factors. In this instrument, subsections 9(24) to 9(47) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, cholelithiasis where it was already present before or during service. If service caused cholelithiasis outright, those factors are not available to you.
RH No. 51 of 2016 · BoP No. 52 of 2016 · 41 factors
What could support a claim for cholelithiasis?
The Statement of Principles for cholelithiasis names 3 other conditions among its own factors. If any of these is already accepted on your file, it may be the factor that carries a cholelithiasis claim — quoted here from the instrument.
Cirrhosis of the liver
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (6): “having cirrhosis of the liver at the time of the clinical onset of cholelithiasis” [clinical onset]
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (29): “having cirrhosis of the liver at the time of the clinical worsening of cholelithiasis; Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986” [worsening]
Hepatitis C
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (8): “for males only, having hepatitis C virus infection at the time of the clinical onset of cholelithiasis” [clinical onset]
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (31): “for males only, having hepatitis C virus infection at the time of the clinical worsening of cholelithiasis” [worsening]
Diabetes mellitus
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (12): “having type 2 diabetes mellitus at the time of the clinical onset of cholelithiasis” [clinical onset]
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (35): “having type 2 diabetes mellitus at the time of the clinical worsening of cholelithiasis” [worsening]
Reviewed by Dr Thomas Perkins
Founding doctor, Veterans Health Centre · former RAAF aviation medical officer · 13 years working exclusively with ADF members and veterans. Full profile →
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