The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and hiatal hernia, finding that there is no evidence to support a relationship between these conditions and his military service or any service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners provided negative opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran’s IBS and hiatal hernia, stating they are not related to his service-connected gastroduodenitis and GERD, nor is there evidence that they were caused by his newly service-connected depressive disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- IBS, hiatal hernia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 13, 2020
- Citation
- 20066305
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 882 · Granted: 17% (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 20066305.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
A 30 percent rating for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is granted, and service connection for hypertension is denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) as there is no current diagnosis of IBS or symptoms at any time during the pendency of the claim.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to inadequate development of her exposure history and lack of adequate medical opinions. The case will be returned to the AOJ for further action.
- Granted
The Veteran's TDIU rating is granted with an effective date of March 15, 2017.
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