The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate medical opinions and the need for additional private treatment records. The Veteran's right upper quadrant pain is considered a current disability, but its etiology remains unclear.
The deciding factor: The medical opinion provided by the VA examiner was insufficient to determine if the Veteran's gallbladder/liver/gastrointestinal/esophageal disorders are related to service or have resolved.
- Claimed conditions
- right upper quadrant pain, cholecystitis, cellulitis status post cholecystectomy, biliary colic, peptic ulcer, eosinophilic esophagitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 19, 2022
- Citation
- 22002381
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 22002381.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for esophageal disability, including hiatal hernia, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), stricture of the esophagus, gastritis, and eosinophilic esophagitis. The decision finds that the Veteran's symptoms began during active service and have continued since then.
- 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.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's appeal includes claims for service connection for a peptic ulcer and an initial rating for his right shoulder disability. The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for the peptic ulcer and the right shoulder disability, while denying an increased rating for the right shoulder disability and remanding the issue of effective date for TDIU prior to January 4, 2014.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's eosinophilic esophagitis is related to his active service and grants service connection for this condition.
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