The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for colitis and gastroesophageal reflux disease with solid food dysphagia, as well as his claim for an increased rating for hemorrhoids. The Board found no medical evidence linking these conditions to military service or service-connected disability.
The deciding factor: The VA physician in April 2002 examination stated that the veteran's gastroesophageal reflux disease and diarrhea/fecal urgency were not related to his previous diagnosis of hemorrhoids, and a VA physician in August 1999 opined it would be hard to prove the relationship between the veteran's gastrointestinal disorders and his service-connected hemorrhoids.
- Claimed conditions
- colitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease with solid food dysphagia
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 5, 2003
- Citation
- 0303776
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 407 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0303776.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for colitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, and cholangiocarcinoma as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected vitiligo.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeal for service connection of colitis as it was granted in a previous decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim due to a pre-decisional error in evaluating his service-connected disabilities and their impact on his employment. The AOJ will need to reassess these factors with an updated evaluation.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed all the issues of entitlement to a compensable disability rating or service connection for various conditions, as the Veteran withdrew his appeal prior to the promulgation of a decision.
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