The Board found no evidence that the Veteran's current gastrointestinal or foot disabilities are related to his military service, including any in-service complaints or injuries. The pre-existing pes planus was not shown to have worsened during service.
The deciding factor: There is no clear and unmistakable evidence of a worsening of the preexisting gastrointestinal condition beyond its natural progression, and the Veteran's current gastrointestinal disorders are not related to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Gastrointestinal disability, Foot disability (pes planus)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 28, 2016
- Citation
- 1641826
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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 1641826.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to errors in the duty to assist and insufficient opinions regarding service connection for a gastrointestinal disability. The Veteran's symptoms include epigastric burning, regurgitation, nausea without vomiting, persistently recurrent epigastric distress, reflux, substernal pain, sleep disturbance caused by esophageal reflux, diarrhea, dysphagia, Barrett's esophagus, and esophagitis.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a gastrointestinal disability, finding that his current condition is at least as likely as not related to his active military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for a higher rating for major depressive disorder was denied, and service connection claims for respiratory and gastrointestinal disabilities were also denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a sinus disability as there was no persuasive evidence that it began during service or is otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease.
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