The Veteran's interstitial cystitis is rated as 40 percent disabling, but the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted. The low back disability and gastrointestinal conditions are remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not support a finding of service connection for any of the claimed conditions based on exposure to contaminated water in Korea or other presumptive theories.
- Claimed conditions
- Interstitial cystitis, Low back disorder (degenerative arthritis, intervertebral disc syndrome, spinal stenosis), Large intestine removal, Colon polyps, Chronic ulcerative colitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20069842
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 880 · Granted: 26% (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 20069842.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's IBS with chronic diarrhea and colon polyps are granted an initial 30 percent rating. The Board has remanded the service connection claims for hypertension, psychiatric disability, and skin cancer due to incomplete evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 is remanded due to inadequate VA medical opinions regarding the causation and aggravation of her bladder disability.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and colon polyps but granted service connection for a low back disability. The claim for hemorrhoids was remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for a disability evaluation in excess of 20 percent for interstitial cystitis and a compensable disability evaluation for migraine headaches due to missing medical records.
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