The Veteran's GERD symptoms, including indigestion, heartburn, taste of acid in the back of his mouth, coughing and belching throughout the day, avoidance of certain foods, regurgitation, pain in the substernal and arm, and sleep disturbances caused by esophageal reflux, nausea, and vomiting occurring four or more days a week lasting less than a day, are found to be severe enough to warrant an increased disability rating of 60 percent for GERD.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms, including pain, vomiting, material weight loss, and hematemesis or melena with moderate anemia, produce severe impairment of health.
- Claimed conditions
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- October 14, 2020
- Citation
- 20066372
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,506 · Granted: 43% (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 20066372.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for Dupuytren's contracture of the left hand, right hand, and GERD is remanded due to inadequate VA examination opinions and failure to consider toxic exposure risk activities during service.
- Denied
The Veteran's GERD is currently rated at 10 percent disabling, but the Board found that his symptoms do not meet or approximate the criteria for a higher rating.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), finding that both conditions are secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lower back condition and sinusitis, respectively.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for bladder cancer, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as there is no evidence to support a link between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
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