The Board has determined that the Veteran's back disability is related to his active service and granted service connection for this condition. The GERD issue remains pending as a new VA examination is required due to potential presumptive service connection under Gulf War criteria. The bilateral shoulder condition issue also requires further development, including a VA examination.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's back disability was found related to his active service based on the medical opinion provided.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic lumbar radiculopathy/degenerative spine condition (back condition), hiatal hernia with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), bilateral shoulder condition, with tendonitis and possible arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 5, 2018
- Citation
- 1800501
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 1800501.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted the petition to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for a bilateral shoulder condition, but denied petitions to reopen claims for residuals of heat exhaustion, any dysfunction regulating body temperature, and a right ankle condition. The Board also remanded claims for bruxism and a bilateral shoulder condition.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran's death while it was pending before the Board of Veterans' Appeals.
- Dismissed
The veteran's appeal requests were not timely filed, and good cause was not shown to accept the late filings.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for a lower back condition and remanded claims for service connection for chicken pox or residuals of chicken pox, hair loss, bilateral knee condition, and bilateral shoulder condition.
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