The Veteran seeks service connection for gastrointestinal disorders, including as due to undiagnosed illness. The Board has ordered a remand to obtain updated VA treatment records and provide an opinion on the relationship between his current conditions and service exposure.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinions were inadequate to determine whether the Veteran's gastrointestinal disabilities are related to service exposure, including burning oil fields and other environmental hazards in Southwest Asia.
- Claimed conditions
- gastrointestinal disorder, acid reflux disorder, ulcerative colitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 18, 2017
- Citation
- 1712525
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 1712525.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for a colon condition, including as caused by herbicide agent exposure or secondary to his service-connected disabilities, was denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a finding of service connection on any basis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for an initial evaluation in excess of 30 percent for persistent depressive disorder with anxious distress and service connection for ulcerative colitis are being remanded due to the failure to obtain relevant medical records.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for TDIU was denied as the new evidence submitted did not raise a reasonable possibility of establishing his entitlement to TDIU. The Board found that the VA treatment records generated in the year following the September 2017 rating decision were cumulative or redundant and did not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for mental depression/anxiety, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and gastrointestinal disorder are remanded due to the need for VA examinations and an adequate medical opinion.
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