The Board denied service connection for a gastrointestinal disability and a heart condition, finding that the evidence did not support a link between these conditions and the Veteran's military service or any related medications.,Both conditions were found to be unrelated to exposure to herbicide agents like Agent Orange.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that there was no credible evidence linking the gastrointestinal disability and heart condition to the Veteran's military service, his left knee disability, or any chemical exposures during service. The opinions of VA examiners supported this finding by pointing out a lack of medical correlation between these conditions and the Veteran’s reported exposures.
- Claimed conditions
- gastrointestinal disability, heart condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 12, 2018
- Citation
- 18141984
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 18141984.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for GERD, a heart condition, hypertension, a kidney condition, and obstructive sleep apnea as there is no evidence of current disabilities related to these conditions or that they are etiologically linked to the Veteran's military service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for heart condition, hypertension, and residuals prostate cancer on a presumptive basis due to herbicide exposure under the PACT Act.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for sleep disturbances, to include obstructive sleep apnea, as secondary to an anxiety disorder. The increased rating claim for the anxiety disorder was denied, and the heart condition claim was dismissed.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for gastrointestinal disability and denied earlier effective dates for the awards of service connection for allergic rhinitis, migraine headaches, PTSD, and tinnitus. The Board also denied increased ratings for allergic rhinitis and tinnitus and remanded claims for service connection for right elbow disability.
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