The Board has granted service connection for a neck disability and awarded a maximum 30 percent rating for IBS, finding that the Veteran's symptoms of severe alternating diarrhea and constipation with constant abdominal distress meet the criteria for these conditions.
The deciding factor: The evidence showed that the Veteran's IBS symptoms included frequent episodes of bowel disturbance with abdominal distress, which more closely approximated the criteria for a maximum 30 percent rating under Diagnostic Code 7319.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine (neck disability), Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- July 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19153783
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,858 · Granted: 24% (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 19153783.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), finding that the Veteran does not have current diagnoses of these conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a separate grant of service connection for GERD, as a residual of her cholecystectomy, is granted effective May 19, 2024. The claims for increased ratings for cholecystectomy residuals and esophageal spasms are remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's GERD with IBS is rated at 30 percent effective April 21, 2020. The Board found the symptoms of severe diarrhea and more or less constant abdominal distress meet the criteria for a 30 percent rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for GERD, IBS, and TBI due to a duty to assist error in failing to schedule VA examinations and obtain medical opinions.
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