The Board has determined that the Veteran's gastrointestinal, skin, and headache disabilities are not related to his military service, including service in the Gulf War. The evidence does not support a finding of an undiagnosed illness or medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided by VA examiners indicate that the Veteran's gastrointestinal, skin, and headache disabilities are not related to his military service, including service in the Gulf War. The diagnoses provided (Crohn's disease, pityriasis rosea, erythema nodosum, and tension headaches) do not meet the criteria for an undiagnosed illness or a medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness as defined by VA regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- Gastrointestinal disability, Skin disability, Headache disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 31, 2018
- Citation
- 1806183
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 1806183.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a separate 50 percent initial rating for insomnia as secondary to tinnitus, and denied an increased rating for tinnitus. The Board also granted service connection for headache disability, low back disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, cervical spine disability, and right upper extremity radiculopathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection, to include on a secondary basis, for PTSD, depression, headache disability, and bilateral foot disabilities due to further development of the Veteran's reported in-service stressor events and obtaining additional medical opinions.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the spine, bilateral neuropathy below the hips, and a skin disability.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include a sleep disorder and a headache disability as the evidence of record did not support the claims.
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