The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a gastrointestinal disability, finding that there was no evidence linking his conditions to service or exposure to burn pits in Southwest Asia.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners found no medical evidence linking the Veteran's gastrointestinal disabilities to specific exposures during service and determined they were not related to undiagnosed illnesses or medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illnesses.
- Claimed conditions
- gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD), diverticulosis, colon polyps
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 26, 2021
- Citation
- 21070879
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 21070879.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty to assist error, and will need to obtain an addendum medical opinion regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's diverticulosis and colon tumor.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions, including adjustment disorder, benign skin lesions, actinic keratosis, poikiloderma, porokeratosis, Parkinson's disease, benign prostatic hypertrophy, hypertension, increased urinary frequency, diverticulosis, duodenal ulcer, and bilateral cataracts are all granted due to exposure to herbicide agents, mustard gas, and ionizing radiation during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for headaches and gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD) due to secondary service connection. The Veteran is seeking service connection for these conditions as being related to his service-connected allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, and status post-lumbar laminectomy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's GI disorders are related to his service, but the AOJ needs to determine which specific deployments and activities caused these conditions. The case is being remanded for further development.
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