The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient examination and incomplete medical records. The Veteran's stomach and digestive issues are inextricably intertwined with his anal fissure claim, so both need to be addressed together.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner failed to consider relevant STRs that indicate treatment for gastrointestinal symptoms during service, which could affect the determination of service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- stomach and digestive issues, anal fissure
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19193321
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 19193321.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for an adequate examination to address the nature and severity of the Veteran's service-connected anal fissure (also claimed as proctalgia fugax, prolonged painful rectum spasms).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a bowel condition, including GERD, colon polyps, colon diverticulosis, hemorrhoids, and anal fissure, to determine if these conditions are aggravated by service-connected diabetes with obesity as an intermediate step.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for anal fissure (also claimed as proctalgia fugax, prolonged painful rectum spasms) due to a lack of adequate information regarding the qualifications of the VA examiner.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded the case to obtain a VA opinion on the severity of the Veteran's anal fissure and proctalgia fugax. The Veteran is cautioned that failure to appear for VA examinations could result in the denial of his claim.
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