The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient medical opinions regarding his stomach and esophageal disabilities, as well as secondary service connection for stomach surgery.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner’s opinion is inadequate because it did not consider the lay evidence of record reflecting symptoms persisting since discharge from duty.
- Claimed conditions
- stomach or esophageal disability, esophagitis, esophageal stricture, esophageal diverticulum
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 11, 2020
- Citation
- 20032835
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 20032835.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's gastritis and esophageal stricture are granted as service-connected.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's initial disability rating for migraine headaches has been granted at 50 percent. The issue of service connection for hiatal hernia and esophagitis, related to PTSD, is remanded due to inadequate medical opinions.
- Granted
The Veteran's GERD with hiatal hernia is rated at a 30 percent disability rating, effective March 12, 2021.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's GI disorders are related to his service, but the AOJ needs to determine which specific deployments and activities caused these conditions. The case is being remanded for further development.
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