The Board denied the Veteran's claim of service connection for a gastrointestinal disability, to include GERD, finding that there was no evidence of a chronic gastrointestinal condition during active service or within one year after separation. The most probative medical opinions concluded that any current gastrointestinal disability did not have its onset in service.
The deciding factor: The Board found the Veteran's lay history and treatment records insufficient to establish a nexus between his current gastrointestinal disabilities and his active service, given the lack of documented symptoms or diagnoses during service and the temporal gap between separation from service and subsequent complaints.
- Claimed conditions
- Gastrointestinal Disability, GERD (Gastritis), Duodenal Ulcer, Hypertrophic Gastritis, Helicobacter pylori
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 10, 2021
- Citation
- 21028139
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 21028139.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has reduced the Veteran's rating for his service-connected Helicobacter pylori from 10 percent to noncompensable effective July 1, 2020. The reduction was proper as there is evidence of improvement in the condition.
- Granted
Service connection is granted for cervical spine disability, lumbosacral spine disability, and hypertrophic gastritis.,Obstructive sleep apnea service connection is denied. Service connection for TBI and CFS are remanded.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for Helicobacter pylori, and remanded the issues of service connection for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and diverticulitis due to exposure at Camp Lejeune.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a hernia and remanded the remaining claims for further development.
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