The Veteran's appeal regarding residuals of an in-service appendectomy is being remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to assess the nature and etiology of his claimed symptoms.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner acknowledged the need for more sophisticated imaging studies or diagnostic laparoscopy to fully assess the Veteran’s complaints related to his in-service appendectomy.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic abdominal pain, bowel disturbances
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2020
- Citation
- 20068479
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,614 · Granted: 35% (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 20068479.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 20 percent rating for colon cancer residuals with colon resection residuals, bowel disturbances, and GERD, and a separate 10 percent rating for GERD. The claim for a compensable rating for colon resection scar residuals was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for a lower back condition and chronic abdominal pain to schedule VA examinations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a gastrointestinal disability, to include chronic constipation and chronic abdominal pain, due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error in not providing an adequate examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issue of whether the Veteran's current symptoms, including chronic abdominal pain and bowel disturbance, are related to his in-service appendectomy. The case is returned for further medical evaluation.
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