The Board has remanded the cases for further development and opinion regarding service connection for gastrointestinal disability and herniated disc in the low back, including consideration of herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner is asked to provide an opinion on whether the Veteran's gastrointestinal disability and lumbar disability are related to military service, with particular attention given to potential herbicide exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Gastrointestinal disability, Herniated disc in the low back
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19130161
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings, as well as entitlement to a TDIU prior to September 17, 2014.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, denied increased ratings for the right foot stress fracture and scars, restored a 40% rating for lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis, and denied earlier effective dates for TDIU and DEA. The Board remanded claims for service connection for a gastrointestinal disability and increased evaluations for the low back and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities, including an acquired psychiatric disability, rectal bleeding, erectile dysfunction, a gastrointestinal disability, and headache disability. The denial was based on the lack of probative evidence supporting a current disability or a link to active military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for HIV, gastrointestinal conditions, CTS and wrist disabilities, epididymitis, left testis condition, penile condition, acquired psychiatric disorder, and bilateral foot disability are all granted. However, the Veteran's secondary service connection claims for these conditions remain denied.
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