The Veteran's claims for service connection for abdominal aortic aneurysm, duodenal ulcer, and incisional abdominal hernia were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support service connection for these conditions. The Veteran’s claim for increased disability evaluation for his duodenal ulcer was also denied. His claim for TDIU was remanded.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners determined that there was no direct link between the Veteran's current aortic abdominal aneurysm, duodenal ulcer, and incisional abdominal hernia and his military service or any of his service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- abdominal aortic aneurysm, duodenal ulcer, incisional abdominal hernia
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- March 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19122411
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,092 · Granted: 42% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19122411.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions, including adjustment disorder, benign skin lesions, actinic keratosis, poikiloderma, porokeratosis, Parkinson's disease, benign prostatic hypertrophy, hypertension, increased urinary frequency, diverticulosis, duodenal ulcer, and bilateral cataracts are all granted due to exposure to herbicide agents, mustard gas, and ionizing radiation during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to a duty to assist error. The Board finds that the Veteran may have been exposed to toxic substances during his service, including RF radiation and asbestos. However, VA did not obtain an opinion regarding the relationship between these exposures and the claimed conditions.
- Granted
The Board has restored service connection for the Veteran's abdominal aortic aneurysm as secondary to his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the original grant of service connection was not clearly and unmistakably erroneous.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and duodenal ulcer have been dismissed as the appeal was made concurrently with a previously pending supplemental claim.
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