The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for GERD, residuals of intestinal blockage, and bilateral hearing loss. The Board found that there was no in-service event or injury to attribute these disabilities, and that the current evidence did not support a finding of direct service connection.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence showed that the Veteran's GERD and intestinal blockage were not related to his active military service, and that his bilateral hearing loss was more likely due to post-service noise exposure than to any in-service event or injury.
- Claimed conditions
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Residuals of intestinal blockage, Bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 20, 2020
- Citation
- 20074543
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,642 · Granted: 19% (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 20074543.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a low back disorder was reopened, and his claims for increased ratings of bilateral knee instability were granted. His hearing loss claim was denied.
- 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.
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