The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been presented to reopen the claim for service connection for GERD. The claims for BHL, cholecystitis, chronic, DM, lumbar disability (secondary to left knee disability), heart disability, acquired psychiatric disorder, and right knee disability are all remanded.
The deciding factor: New and material evidence has been presented to reopen the claim for service connection for GERD. The other claims require additional development as specified in the remand instructions.
- Claimed conditions
- GERD, cholecystitis, chronic, diabetes mellitus (DM), lumbar spine degenerative disc disease (lumbar disability), heart disability, acquired psychiatric disorder
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19130131
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for panic disorder, OSA, and hypertension as secondary to a service-connected condition. The claim for diabetes mellitus was denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including a head injury, headache disorder, erectile dysfunction, left earache disorder, chronic fatigue, right shoulder disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, right foot disorder, GERD, and left shoulder disorder, as the evidence did not support current diagnoses of these conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a heart disability as the evidence did not support that it began during active service or was related to an in-service injury.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an initial rating higher than 30 percent for the service-connected heart disability to correct an error by the AOJ in not informing the Veteran of his right to a pre-decisional hearing.
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