The Veteran's service connection claim for bowel problems, including GERD and food sensitivity, was denied. The Board found no medical evidence linking the current bowel problems to his active duty service. For the left knee disability, a rating in excess of 10 percent was denied, but a separate compensable rating for lateral instability was granted.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's current bowel problems were not linked to his military service due to conflicting medical opinions and lack of evidence supporting an in-service onset or causation. For the left knee disability, the Board found no clinical evidence of subluxation or lateral instability warranting a higher rating.
- Claimed conditions
- bowel problems, gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD), food sensitivity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 27, 2019
- Citation
- 19149855
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,329 · Granted: 31% (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 19149855.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty to assist error regarding the Veteran's gastrointestinal conditions, including GERD. The Veteran needs to be examined for his claimed GERD condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to the failure to schedule VA examinations related to his claimed disabilities. The Board finds that there was a pre-decisional error in not ensuring proper communication with the Veteran.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for adjustment/mood disorder, gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD), left lower extremity radiculopathy, right lower extremity radiculopathy, and neurogenic bladder disability as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's bowel and urinary problems are a result of the June 2009 surgeries at VA, but it is unclear if these issues were caused by carelessness or negligence on the part of VA. The Board has ordered a medical opinion to clarify this.
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