The Board remands the claims for a back disability and a gastrointestinal disability to obtain additional medical opinions that adequately address the evidence of record.
The deciding factor: The June 2023 VA opinions are inadequate because they fail to address positive medical treatise evidence suggesting a causal relationship between an altered gait or PTSD and aggravation of the respective disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- back disability, gastrointestinal disability, to include chronic diarrhea
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2024
- Citation
- 24000209
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 Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for a back disability due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding VA's failure to provide the Veteran with a VA examination prior to the rating decision.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right ankle, left ankle, back disability, and other conditions as there is no evidence of a current disability related to the Veteran's military service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for gastrointestinal disability and denied earlier effective dates for the awards of service connection for allergic rhinitis, migraine headaches, PTSD, and tinnitus. The Board also denied increased ratings for allergic rhinitis and tinnitus and remanded claims for service connection for right elbow disability.
- Denied
The Veteran was awarded service connection for allergic rhinitis based on the PACT Act, but an earlier effective date prior to August 10, 2022, is not warranted.
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