The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for Barrett's esophagitis, finding that it did not have its clinical onset during or as a result of service, including herbicide agent exposure, and is not otherwise related to service or his service-connected acquired psychiatric disability.
The deciding factor: Barrett's esophagitis was not shown to be directly related to service, including herbicide agent exposure, and the Board found no evidence linking it to the Veteran's service-connected acquired psychiatric disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Barrett's esophagitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 26, 2020
- Citation
- 20069163
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
The Board granted service connection for Barrett's esophagitis, GERD, and esophageal carcinoma based on the Veteran's exposure to herbicides during active service in Vietnam.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a new VA examination to address the symptomatology, if any, pertaining to the Veteran's service-connected Barrett's esophagitis.
- Granted
The Veteran's GERD is granted a 30 percent disability rating, as the symptoms more closely approximate persistently recurrent epigastric distress with dysphagia, pyrosis, reflux, regurgitation, pain accompanied by substernal or arm, sleep disturbances and nausea.
- Denied
The veteran's service-connected GERD with sliding hiatal hernia associated with duodenal ulcer by history, diverticulosis coli and hyperplastic colonic polyps is rated at 30 percent, which is the maximum rating allowable under the applicable diagnostic codes. Separate compensable evaluations for duodenal ulcer, GERD, and sliding hiatal hernia are not warranted.
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