The Board has remanded the cases for a Gulf War examination to determine if the Veteran's cervical spine disability, chronic sinusitis, and GERD are due to undiagnosed illnesses or medically unexplained conditions related to his service in the Persian Gulf.
The deciding factor: The examiner is asked to determine if the Veteran’s disabilities are due to exposure to environmental hazards while serving in Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine disability, chronic sinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19175881
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and pernicious anemia, and the Board dismissed both appeals.
- Denied
The Board denied a rating in excess of 10 percent for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) as the appellant does not have a documented history of recurrent or refractory esophageal stricture(s).
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a deviated septum and denied compensable ratings for allergic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, hypothyroidism, and hypertension.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 20 percent disability rating for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy from April 3, 2023 onward, but denied higher ratings prior to that date. Service connection was also granted for alcohol use disorder as secondary to PTSD with traumatic brain injury.
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