The Veteran's GERD is being remanded for a new VA examination to determine if it was caused or aggravated by her service-connected asthma. The examiner will also assess whether the Veteran's medications used to treat her asthma cause or aggravate her GERD.
The deciding factor: The examiner needs to provide an opinion on whether the Veteran's GERD is at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) caused by or aggravated by her service-connected asthma, including any medication use for asthma treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Asthma
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20003504
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 matters for additional development, including obtaining private treatment records and conducting VA examinations.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for asbestosis, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), rhinitis, sinusitis, and asthma. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was also denied a compensable rating.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities and denied higher ratings for several service-connected conditions.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the claims for an initial compensable rating for left ear sensorineural hearing loss, service connection for a right ear hearing loss disability, and a left eye disorder. However, it granted service connection for a back disability and radiculopathy of both lower extremities as secondary to the back disability.
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