The Board has determined that the Veteran's irritable bowel syndrome is a qualifying chronic disability of a medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness and granted service connection for this condition. The claim for joint pain will be remanded to obtain additional medical records and schedule the Veteran for an examination.
The deciding factor: The VA Persian Gulf War Syndrome examination in January 2012 did not diagnose irritable bowel syndrome, but a subsequent VA examination in October 2016 diagnosed it. The Board finds that the Veteran's current diagnosis of IBS is sufficient to establish service connection as a qualifying chronic disability under 38 C.F.R. § 3.317.
- Claimed conditions
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Joint Pain
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 22, 2017
- Citation
- 1741582
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 1741582.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 a lack of rationale in the VA examiner's opinion and an inconsistency between the examination report and nexus opinion.
- Granted
The Veteran's irritable bowel syndrome is granted a rating of 30 percent, the maximum schedular rating under Diagnostic Code 7319. Service connection for migraine headaches as secondary to service connected tinnitus and PTSD is also granted.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's request for an earlier effective date of May 19, 2024, for a separate 10 percent rating for GERD. The decision states that prior to this date, ratings for GERD and Irritable Bowel Syndrome could not be combined due to VA regulations at the time.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to August 1, 2025, for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to his service-connected disabilities. The evidence did not show that he was precluded from employment solely due to his service-connected conditions.
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