The Veteran's claim for service connection for a stomach disorder has been reopened and granted. Tinnitus is found to have had its onset in service. The reduction of the rating for prostate cancer residuals from 100% to 10% was proper, but the reduction of the rating for coronary artery disease from 60% to 10% was improper.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's new and material evidence includes VA treatment records indicating diagnoses of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim for service connection for a stomach disorder. The medical evidence at the time of the reduction demonstrated improvement in the Veteran’s prostate cancer, with no local reoccurrence or metastasis.
- Claimed conditions
- stomach disorder, tinnitus, prostate cancer residuals, coronary artery disease, back disability, PTSD, peripheral neuropathy (left upper extremity), peripheral neuropathy (right upper extremity), peripheral neuropathy (left lower extremity), peripheral neuropathy (right lower extremity), radiation proctitis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19125509
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for a back disability due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding VA's failure to provide the Veteran with a VA examination prior to the rating decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder to ensure a proper examination and etiology opinion are provided.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and bilateral vision condition was dismissed. Service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease was denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, and somatic symptom disorder, as well as presumptive service connection for basal cell carcinoma under the PACT Act. Service connection was denied for chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, right restless leg syndrome, left restless leg syndrome, an increased rating for psychiatric disorder, bilateral hearing loss, a left forehead surgical scar, and allergic rhinitis.
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